Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!
by Got Scots
Summary: Island life can get boring when it consists of eating, cleaning and sleeping. This is why Charlie, Hurley and some of my own original characters decided to create a band. But how long can a band stick together on an island like this?
1. Forming the Band

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_by Got Scots?_

**Summary:** Island life can get boring when it consists of eating, cleaning and sleeping. This is why Charlie, Hurley and some of my own original characters decided to create a band. But how long can a band stick together on an island like this?

**Author Note:** You never thought you'd see a band fic for Lost now did yeh? Well here's your chance to enjoy the fluffyness you thought would never happen. Just as a disclaimer I want to say that if I actually owned Lost, well Desmond would be married to me and Locke would grow a purple mowhawk. Shows how much I can be trusted with a television show…

The story takes place before the third season finale meaning Charlie still lives! Desmond is now a part of the Losties and is no longer in the hatch. Locke is off with the Benjamin Linus, but the rest of the crew is back at the beach as far as I'm concerned. If I'm wrong, bear with me for plot purposes. Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter One**

Charlie couldn't help but notice a man about his age sitting alone in the distance. He'd seen the bloke around several times before, but he came off as the isolated type and Charlie had never bothered trying to break him from this shell.

But now, as Charlie glanced over at the crevice the man had converted into a tiny home, he couldn't help but wonder. Even from a few feet away, Charlie could hear the faint notes of one of Charlie's favourite rock artists.

It was both curiosity and boredom that got him up and made him wander over towards the blonde young man. As he reached the rock that the man had dramatically sprawled out upon, Charlie comically stared as the bloke continued to sing without a care in the world. He watched his squinted shut eyes with curiosity until finally the man jumped at Charlie's presence.

"I said maybe you're gonna be the one that saves—shit!" the blonde practically jumped out of his relaxed position and sat pretzel style. He stared up at Charlie with wide eyes. "Wh-what are you—hi," he had trouble getting the words out.

Charlie let out a deep laugh at the poor bloke's reaction. He said with a smile, "I was just curious as to which song you were singing."

"Oh," the man's eyebrows rose with surprise.

"Oasis, yeah?" Charlie asked. "I love them."

"No way," the bloke stood up and grinned. "I have all their albums, mate."

It was now that Charlie really picked up on the man's distinct Scottish accent. He was surprised he hadn't noticed this bloke before. The two of them had so much in common. Tilting his head with delight, Charlie asked, "What's your name?"

"Ewan," the blonde had the same look of surprise on his face that Charlie did.

"Charlie." He began walking down the long stretch of beach before them and Ewan decided to follow him. Charlie took note of Ewan's set of skinny jeans and a red t-shirt—the two of them also had very similar dress. "It's funny we've never met before," he laughed.

Grinning at the first light-hearted conversation he'd had in a while, Ewan replied with a simple, "Yeah."

"You always keep yourself so… shut off," Charlie pointed out. "I mean… is there a reason you never talk to anybody?"

"Not really," Ewan shrugged. He was having a difficult time believing that he was already talking about such a sensitive subject with this bloke. Despite what he thought it would feel like, it wasn't too difficult to explain to Charlie the pathetic reason he had become so isolated. "I just don't really know anybody here."

Immediately, Charlie chuckled. "I don't think any of us knew each other when we first got here. None of us expected all this to happen."

"Yeah," Ewan shrugged again.

After a while, Charlie said, "You know life's getting pretty dull around here." He looked out at the constant waves that tumbled across the sea. "It's kind of nice to meet somebody new."

"It is," Ewan nodded. "I hate this place. There's nothing to bloody do."

"I know what you mean," Charlie sneered. "Last night for entertainment I took one of the forks and drew a picture in the sand."

"You must really be desperate."

"Hey, you know what?" Charlie looked back at Ewan with a mischievous grin. Ewan stared back at him with wild curiosity filling the creases in the corners of his eyes. "I've got something you'll bloody love," Charlie suddenly turned back in the direction they came and speed-walked back to the tent that he and Claire shared.

As soon as the two of them arrived at the tent, Charlie pulled out his acoustic guitar from underneath his bed. "Check that out mate," he handed the instrument to Ewan with pride glittering in his eyes.

"Jesus," Ewan nodded in approval. He strummed a few chords on the guitar—the opening to a U2 song. "I don't really play much," he said as he looked up at Charlie. "I'm sure you do though," he handed the guitar back to Charlie.

"Of course," Charlie said as he sat down on his bed. Ewan sat beside him, watching the musician eagerly as he plucked away at the strings. "You know I was in that band Driveshaft. Ever heard of them?"

"No," Ewan wanted to apologise to Charlie but there was nothing to apologise for. After all, Charlie had probably never heard of him either. "I used to be an actor," he pried. "Before this… crash."

"Really?" Charlie raised in eyebrow. "What kind of stuff did you do?"

"Lots of Broadway," Ewan grinned even though he had only been in three shows, two of them being chorus roles.

"Wow. That's fantastic, mate," Charlie nodded. Then he turned back to his guitar and continued playing a song Ewan didn't recognise.

"You know…" Ewan pondered as he folded his arms. "You want to make life less boring?" He shot Charlie a roguish grin. "How about we start a band? We could perform by the fire every night with dinner. I could sing and you could—"

"Play guitar!" Charlie smiled and slapped Ewan on the back. "Excellent idea, mate! Brilliant!"

Ewan laughed at how happy Charlie seemed. He watched as the giddy Englishman stood up and set his guitar back down under his bed. Ewan stood up with him as he hurried out of the tent. "Hey, where are you going?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"To recruit!"

* * *

_If you're still here, thank you! I hope you liked the first chapter! Leave a review and let me know what I can improve upon! _

_And if you've read any of my other fics and aren't surprised to see Ewan as a starring role, congratulations. But I changed his character a bit! He's on Broadway now! Wooo!_

_-Got Scots?_


	2. A Little Help from my Friends

_Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!_

Chapter Two

Disclaimer Two: I forgot to talk about the songs used in this story. I obviously don't own any of the songs that I'm going to have the band play. I'll try to use songs that can fit to anyone's taste, but obviously, Charlie and Ewan won't be singing Rihanna's "Umbrella" as they walk down the beach. I hope you can try to understand. Also, if you do like the song that I use and I don't include the title or artist in the context of the story, I'll try to write about it at the bottom. La Fin.

Another Note: I think I'm going to count the first chapter as an introductory chapter and write the rest of the story from alternating perspectives. Please don't be alarmed.

**Charlie**

By sunset, the two newest members of the band were standing before us. I was grinning like a bloody idiot because of the sight. I never thought that I'd be apart of the greatest thing ever to hit this deserted island. I stood there, bouncing on my toes and trying not to get my hopes up. I bloody knew it though. I knew we were going to be _worshiped_ by the entire island.

"Hurley, Rose, welcome to the band," I smiled. Glancing over at Ewan, I wondered if he was as crazily giddy about this as I was. I couldn't really read anything in his eyes, but his ridiculous grin told me everything. I turned back to the other two and continued, "Hurley, you'll be on drums and Rosie… what did you say you could do again?"

"Guitar," Rose stared at me. "I said I could play guitar." Without thinking, she looked down at the guitar in my hands as if she were going to snatch it out of my hand at any moment. No matter how many times she glared at it though, she was not going anywhere near the bloody thing.

"Well, since there's only one guitar, we'll have to find you something else." I glanced back at my tent which was a few feet behind us, as if I were going to find something there. "Maybe we could have you sing backup?" I asked nervously.

I shouldn't have added that last bit because the girl spat back at me in her Australian accent. "Backup?" she asked. "Backup for who?"

"Ewan," I gleefully gestured over to the Scot beside me, hoping that he would be forced to take some of this bird's heat.

"You want me to sing backup for this pretty boy?"

"Hey! Watch what you're--"

"Dude, will you two calm down?" Hurley finally spoke up. He looked in to Rose's angry, brown eyes and watched her long, black hair sway as she folded her arms angrily. "This is supposed to be fun, isn't it?"

I nodded in return, gratefully thanking Hurley for intervening. Beside us, I could still see Ewan and the girl going at it silently. Ewan had crossed his arms by now and was wrinkling his nose and scoffing at the girl. In return, Rose glared at him with icy cold eyes. I wanted to laugh at the two of them, but just turned back to Hurley. "Now, let's find you a set of drums, mate," I smiled. I could tell he wanted to get away from the two of them since there was already so much tension scattered around the beach.

The two of us set off down the beach, eying the tents to either side of us, wondering who we could ask for materials. "I was thinking we could use like boxes or something? Put different things in them to make different sounds?"

"Dude," Hurley suddenly lit up. "Question. Do we still have those dried food cans from the Dharma Intuitive? The empty ones?"

"Brilliant--" I began to say, but was interrupted by Ewan and Rose who were racing up behind us.

"Oi!" Ewan called. He caught up to me and patted me on the back. "You didn't think you were leaving without us, did you?"

Actually, I had dreamed and prayed that we were, in fact, leaving with out those two. But instead, I turned to Ewan and laughed, "No, of course not." I was in too jolly a mood to let another argument ruin the night.

Rosie hurried up to walk beside Hurley and looked up at the tall American's curly, brown hair. Even though I could tell she was in the worst mood of all of us, she still recognised the one thing that would bring us together and make the conversation comfortable again. "So what songs are we gonna sing?" she asked.

"I don't know…" I drifted off, running through a large list of artists in my head.

"I was thinking Slipknot or something awesome to start off," Rosie smiled.

"Are you serious?" Ewan looked past Hurley and me to stare at her wide-eyed.

"How about something a little more… unwinding?" I asked. "I think that's what people need at the end of the day."

"Slipknot's unwinding," Rose shrugged.

"Are you serious?" Ewan asked again.

"Jack Johnson?" Hurley asked. "He's one of my favourite artists. And his songs are much more… well… relaxing."

"Yeah, a little John Mayer would be nice too," I pointed out.

A silence fell over us as we all tested out songs in our heads. Then suddenly, Ewan picked up his pace and burst out in to song. The rest of us held back our laughs as we watched him walk backwards, facing us, all while snapping his fingers in a very theatrical manner. "Once I was a selfish fool who never understood, never looked inside myself, but on the outside? I looked good! Then we met and you made me the man I am today--"

"Oh, _God_, no," Rosie ran up and shoved him back. Ewan stumbled for a moment, looking up at her questioningly and then the two of them burst out laughing. I looked over at Hurley quizzically. That was unexpected. "We're _not_ singing Hairspray," Rose giggled.

Ewan turned and raised his eyebrows at her and the two of them continued walking in front of us. "I'm surprised you knew what it was at all," he said.

"My sister…" Rose shook her head. "She's obsessed with that freaky, theatre stuff."

"Me too," Ewan grinned.

"Hey, lovebirds," I interrupted. "How about something classic? Both of you alright with the Beatles?"

"Awesome," Hurley nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Ewan said as he turned to look at Rose.

She thought for a moment and then shrugged. "You'll have to teach me the lyrics, but yeah. Sure."

It was silent again until I heard the faint sound of Ewan snapping his fingers. Rosie snorted at him and watched as he started singing and dancing again. "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?"

"Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song and I'll try not to sing out of key," I added. "Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends."

"He gets high with a little help from his friends," Ewan added with a laugh.

"Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends," I smiled.

"I can already tell," Hurley spoke. "This band is going to be so awesome."

"Yeah," Rosie added, speaking mainly to me.

"Dude," was all Hurley could say. And the four of us fell silent again.

* * *

_And I forgot to say one more thing. Sorry to annoy you all with these little things I forget, but erm... the songs I use will usually be new-ish music. You may think it weird that plane crashed in like 2004 and they're all singing songs by MIKA or something. So, just so you know, I'm disregarding the rules of time and communication while writing my story. :D_

_Songs:_

_Without Love from the Broadway Musical Hairspray_

_With a Little Help from my Friends by the Beatles_


	3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_by Got Scots?_

Chapter Three

**Hurley**

Okay, so I know it's weird to be nervous before a show for only twenty people, but I can't honestly say I've ever performed before. Not in a band anyway. I mean, I did the required 5th grade and 3rd grade school plays, but other than that I prefer to sit in the back of the auditorium and _watch_. Never would I have pictured myself with this strangely mixed group of people.

And in the midst of my nerves, my sweat, my butterflies, I look over to see Ewan, Charlie and Rose grinning like maniacs and the audience that's shown up. All of them are or were professional entertainers. Well, at least the have some experience beyond grade school.

Ewan's a Broadway star. Or at least that's what he keeps bragging to us. He knows everything there is to know about the world of theatre, as a matter of fact he has many, many famous friends who could vouch for him on that. He's been in Hairspray, Rent and the Last Five Years—three extremely well done Broadway plays that the critics just love. He's raved about these musicals several times, but has always failed to mention which parts he played. Funny.

Charlie was in an awesome rock band called Driveshaft. It wasn't uncommon to hear their hit "You All Everybody" on the radio more than three times a day—well, back in good ole England, of course. He played guitar. Base guitar or… not base guitar. I can't really remember which. But after the band's sudden fame, there was a break up. And Charlie hasn't told us too much about that.

Rose doesn't talk about her experiences in performing as much as the other two do, but she used to be a dancer. She went to school for dancing until she realized she didn't fit. To be honest, every other dancer she had worked with was a skinny, blonde, brat. Of course, Rose uses better words to describe them.

As I'm standing there with all three professionals Charlie says, "Ready, mate?" I'm not quite sure who he's addressing, but I nod. "Let's go."

We walk up to the fire, instruments in hand, Ewan strutting over to the biggest rock in the circle. And as we arrive we see everyone sitting around, enjoying the last of their dinner just like they do every night. Our fellow survivors surrounding the large fire on logs, towels or rocks, none of them knows how special tonight will be.

Charlie sits down first an the rest of us get settled. I can see out of the corner of my eye a few people are staring. Jack and Juliet eyeing us curiously. Desmond is sitting in his own corner, obviously staring at us, but trying not to look like he is. And Sawyer's glaring at Ewan's very presence (I heard the two of them fight a lot).

"Hey… everyone," Ewan awkwardly address the crowd as the rest of us get set up. "We know that everyone's been a bit down lately, so Charlie, Rose, Hurley and I have decided to put on a bit of a show for you. We're just gonna be singing songs from the Beatles so… eh… thanks, you guys, for listening."

Then we are ready to start. Charlie plays the first few chords of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and we get more stares from people.

Ewan's voice starts off gently and smoothly, just how we had rehearsed. This song doesn't require much percussion so I'm able to just sit back and watch.

"I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love. I don't know how someone controlled you. They bought and sold you." Ewan is getting louder now. You can tell that is really in to the music. Or maybe he was just acting like he was—you can never really tell with him.

Rose is tapping her fingers on her thigh, waiting to join in. Then finally it's her turn to sing, "With every mistake we must surely be learning." She joins in perfectly with Ewan.

We move through the rest of the songs—"I Want You", "Help!", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "All You Need Is Love". Before I know it, the show is over. I look over at the rest of the band and they're all smiles.

"Dude, great show," I am the first one to respond to the awkwardness and give everyone a little high five. Our "audience" realizes that this is the end and starts clapping. I can hear Sawyer whistling obnoxiously too. It feels great to have everyone cheering for us.

"Yeah, that was awesome," Rose smiled, wrapping Ewan in a hug. "You were awesome."

"Oh. Thanks," Ewan said. I could see that he was trying to pretend the compliment meant nothing to him. The look on his face was kind of laughable actually.

"That was fantastic," Charlie smiled at me.

Then the four of us turned to our audience who now stared at us kind of silently. Half in awe, half not sure what to do. Charlie and I picked up our instruments and then all of us began to walk away. For the first five seconds, it felt like a walk of shame—dragging our feet in the sand, leaving a silent crowd behind us. But then, our fellow survivors caught on and applauded us as we headed back to our tents. It was the most "bloody brilliant" feeling in the world as Charlie would say.

* * *

_Hello everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it! To answer a question some of you asked, no, this is not the elderly Rose who tries to help Charlie with his bags in one episode. This is a different, much younger Rose from Austrailia. Though I think it would be kind of hilarious of the other Rose joint the band... maybe I'll have to add that in at some point._

_And also, each character has their own style of writing which is why Hurley writes in present tense. So don't think I've messed up if I start writing all weird (unless of course I actually messed up)--it's just the character's way of writing._

_Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!!_

_--Got Scots?_


	4. The Annoyingly Dramatic Wuss

_Here We Are Now: Entertain Us_

**Chapter Four**

Rose

The next day was so incredible. After our performance, almost everyone on the bloody island came up to me and told me how much they liked it. Not to mention, I caught the eye of that guy Sawyer.

I could see him walking down the beach while I was eating my usual well-balanced breakfast of fruit, fruit and more fruit. The last thing on my mind was that he was heading towards me. But somehow that gorgeous, sandy blonde hair and those sexy, blue eyes wandered over to _my _tent. He said something like this:

"Hey, weren't you that chick that sang last night?" he had walked up to my tent without me even realising it at all. I was quite surprised when I looked up and saw him.

"Umm… yeah," I smiled.

"The show was cool."

I couldn't believe it. I mean, of course, he walked away right after that but at least he had spoken to me. Hopefully, this was the beginning of much, much more.

I didn't stop daydreaming about Sawyer until I was heading to Charlie and Claire's tent for rehearsal. Or maybe I should say CharlieandClaire because lately everyone's been slurring their names together as they officially announced themselves as a couple.

At the tent I was greeted by the smiling faces of Charlie and Hurley who had obviously gotten off to as good a start as I had.

"Hey, guys," I said.

"Everyone's talking about last night," Charlie told me excitedly. "It's brilliant. Bloody brilliant. We brought _life_ to this little community."

"Dude, you're a little too… awake for me," Hurley glanced at both of us, still sleepy-eyed.

"Hey, where'd the drama queen go?" I asked.

"We don't know," Hurley shrugged. "He sleeps right down the beach from me… but I didn't see him this morning."

"That's strange," I remarked and Charlie nodded.

"I always see him coming back from his 'morning swim'…" The three of us had been listening to Hurley, but watching Desmond at the same time. When Hurley trailed off, we watched as the messy-haired Scot walked quickly down the beach, his brown eyes fixated on something in the water. He looked kind of insane, but if you ask me, Desmond was always looking that way.

"Something wrong, mate?" Charlie called.

As Desmond replied, his eyes stayed glued to the water. "What… is… that…" his eyes grew wider as he attempted to finish his sentence.

The three of us barely had time to look out in to the ocean before Desmond had tossed off his shoes and darted in to the water. "I swear that man's on something," I muttered as we watched Desmond swim like a maniac out in to the ocean.

"My God!" Charlie exclaimed. He pointed out at the water and said, "That's our bloody lead singer!"

"What?" Hurley and I followed Charlie's index finger out to the waves and saw the pair of flailing arms Desmond was attempting to reach. The man was too far out for Hurley and I to see clearly who it was, but Charlie was convinced that it was Ewan out there.

"What the hell is he doing out that far?" I asked in shock.

Charlie obviously wasn't listening to me. He hurried to the edge of the water and watched as Desmond finally reached that blonde head.

We all watched with heavy suspense weighing down the air. At last, Desmond returned, helping an almost lifeless Ewan out of the ocean. For once, I wasn't sure if the guy was faking it or not. The lad was still spitting out water as Des dragged him away from the water by weaving his arms under Ewan's. "Come on, you're alright, brotha," Desmond whispered gently in Ewan's ear as he helped him lie down with a loud grunt.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"What's _wrong_ with him?" Charlie stared at me as if it were obvious. "He's drowning, that's what's wrong."

"He's not drowning anymore," I pointed out.

Meanwhile, Desmond had already knelt down in the sand, listened to Ewan's heart beat and taken his temperature with his palm. Like I said, the man was insane.

"You alright, brotha?" Desmond asked.

And at last Ewan spoke. His eyes wandered around for a bit until they found Desmond's. "Yeah, I… it hurts to breathe."

"What the hell is your problem?" I immediately asked. "What were you doing out that far?"

It took a hell of a lot of effort to reply, but Ewan said, "I thought I saw a boat… but by the time I got out there… it was gone."

"A boat?" Charlie asked with wide-eyes. "Seriously?"

"Dude, what did it look like?" Hurley asked.

"It was white…" Ewan began. "I don't know, I can't really remember."

"You might have been hallucinating," Desmond told him.

"And why's that, doc?" I laughed.

Desmond was pretty good at ignoring me and continuing to be serious. "Have you been drinking enough water?"

"Um… I dunno, okay?" Ewan seemed pretty pissed at everyone crowding around him. He stood up with some difficulty and headed over to the area on the beach where he kept his luggage. I was a bit surprised to see that it was just a towel lying in the sand. I thought that for sure this high maintenance kid would've made himself a tent by now. "Look," he turned back to face the rest of us. "I'll be a bit late to rehearsal, okay. Just leave me the hell alone…"

And he headed off to his towel while we went back to Charlie's tent. I don't remember exactly when Desmond left, but soon it was just the three of us again. "Can we just tell him he's out?" I asked. And who wouldn't ask that after the scene Ewan'd just made?

"Of the band?" Charlie asked. Both he and Hurley leant in and stared at me as if I were actually serious.

"I'm just saying he's really starting to get on my nerves," I rolled my eyes at how stupid some guys could be about sensing a joke.

"Well, mine too, but come on, Rose. He's the perfect lead singer. Everybody loves him." Charlie and Hurley started to relax more.

"Yeah, everybody except us. And we're the ones that have to deal with him."

There was a really awkward silence that filled the air after this sentence. After a while, Charlie picked up his guitar and started singing some song. I had no clue what it was—I wasn't even paying attention to the lyrics because my mind was on something else. That annoyingly dramatic wuss, Ewan. And how I was going to get him the hell out of our band.

* * *

_Oh my, the suspense. Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought by reviewing._

_Happy Holidays! (It's snowing in my town. Bwuhahaha.)_

_--Got Scots?_


	5. Nothing on the Radio

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Five_

Ewan

"Dreaming again of a train track ending at the edge of the sea,

Big black cloud was low and rolling our way,

Dog at the barbed wire barking at my buzz cut friends and me,

Sound of a switchblade shinning in the summer rain.

No one on the corner had a quarter for the telephone.

Everybody bitching, 'There's nothing on the radio'."

I'm not sure why, but being in this band has really had quite the effect on my mood. Lately, I've had something to look forward to which is new for me. And every other night when we perform for everybody by the fire, I get this great feeling inside. Everyone has got their eyes on me, clapping along with the lyrics I sing. It may seem a wee bit shallow, but I absolutely love the attention.

That's probably why tonight when we performed three songs by Iron & Wine, I got up from my chair and dragged Rose by the hand. The two of us started dancing in front of Charlie and Hurley who were laughing at how absolutely mad we must have seemed. We were half swing dancing, half spinning around like nutters and half Indian tribal dancing around the fire. It was a great laugh.

And that was only the first song.

The second song, "Carousel", was more serious than the first one so I decided to sit back down. "Almost home and I miss the bottom stair. You were braiding your grey hair, and it's grown so long, since I've been gone," I sang and the audience was loving it. I could tell because people who don't even know me were really clapping and getting in to it. Even that American-doctor-man Jack was smiling. So was Sawyer and I swear he hates me.

But the last song was where it got crazy. It was a pretty energetic song called "The Devil Never Sleeps". Although the lyrics were a wee bit depressing, the tune itself was catchy. I started dancing again and since Rose was looking pretty embarrassed, I shimmied over to my new friend, Desmond. The crowd cheered and laughed as I held out my hand to Des, waiting for him to get up and dance.

Now, I chose Desmond because a. he was the only person in the circle that I actually knew besides the band and b. I knew he was shy and I really kind of wanted him to come out of his shell. But you know, some people just don't take kind, generous gestures the way you'd think they would.

"Come on, Des. Dance!" I laughed as I spun around and clapped my hands. Everybody was watching the two of us and I could tell it bothered Desmond because his cheeks were turning an embarrassed shade of pink.

To tell you the truth, it was kind of awkward pretending I knew Desmond well enough to invite him to dance with me. In all honesty, I had only spoken to the man once after he had "saved my life". And it was just a quick thank you. That was all.

The crowd was getting really in to it. This guy and girl, Paolo and Nikki, I think, were chanting "dance, dance, dance" and they were getting a few others in on it too. "Oh, come on," I said when the man smiled and shook his head. I couldn't disappoint this audience, they were already so in to me.

"Oh, you coward," I shook my head at him. "You afraid to dance?"

And for some reason when I said those words, Desmond's glare suddenly grew icy cold. "What did you call me?" he muttered so that I only I could hear. I was pretty sure he was upset from all the attention, but a little recognition couldn't do him any harm.

So I decided to play along. "I called you a coward," I grinned.

This was about the time I figured out it wasn't a game.

His eyes lowered and I could see the anger flashing inside them. He immediately stood up and for a second I heard him hold his breath and saw him make fists with his hands. Clueless, I stood there, waiting to see what he would do.

Instead of punching me out, like I'd expected for that short amount of time, he exhaled his angry breath and swiftly walked away from the fire. I tilted my head and watched him leave until I felt the stare of the audience's eyes again. I hurried back to the band and laughed the uncomfortable situation off, knowing I would have to head over to Desmond's tent sooner or later and find out what was going on.

* * *

It was after the fire and after hearing several compliments from our audience that I decided to head off and find Desmond. After a short walk down the beach, I found him outside a small tent he had made for himself. He was sitting down, his arms pulling his knees close to his chest. As if he had sensed me from afar, he immediately looked up when he saw me. 

I let the awkwardness sink in, since we both knew the situation earlier was entirely his fault. After I could feel the guilt beginning to swell up, I decided to speak. "Was it something I said?" I laughed.

Desmond didn't join in, he just turned his head away. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved. I didn't mean to embarrass you, if that's what you mean," he said.

"You didn't embarrass me, you embarrassed yourself," I pointed out. He didn't take it as well as I thought he would.

He still wouldn't look at me as he responded with, "I'm sorry about that."

"What?" I smiled and leant towards him, trying to get his attention. "You have some past traumatic experience with dancing or something?"

He simply shook his head.

This was going to be more difficult than I thought. But I was up for it. I sat down next to Desmond on the side that he had been looking at when he was supposed to be looking at me. Now he was forced to listen.

I wasn't surprised when he smiled and began staring at the ground. Still, no eye contact. "Are you okay?" I asked as I wrapped one arm over his shoulder. And finally, his brown eyes lifted and locked with mine. I waited to hear the hallelujah chorus or see the shining light from above. At last, this bloke was really listening to me.

"I'm fine," Desmond said.

"You don't like my singing, is that it?" I smirked. Yes, it was a bit selfish asking for a compliment like that, but I wanted to get this guy talking.

"No, no," he said. "Your singing's great."

"I know," I responded cheerfully and patted him on the shoulder.

Since I knew it was probably a bad idea to try and get him to compliment me on my dancing too, I let the two of us just sit in silence for a while. We stared up at the quiet stars and the mysterious night sky which started to remind me of home. I had to resist the temptation to rest my head on Desmond's shoulder because I knew he might think that a bit _too_ friendly. But I was really tired and wanted to go to sleep. I figured it was a good idea to end the conversation so I could go and rest.

"Hey," I turned to him and got him to look away from the sky. "Will you come to the next gig? I promise I won't ask you to dance anymore."

"Sure," Desmond nodded.

And for some reason I didn't want to sleep anymore. I just wanted to stay out on the beach and look up at the stars all night. So that's exactly what we did.

* * *

_I've been waiting to Ewan's perspective for a while because it's fun to write for someone so... full of themself. I hope you kind of notice that his voice is very different from all the past characters. That's why he's my favourite 3 3 :D_

_Also, I'm not going to say who (although it might be slightly obvious), but I was wondering if anyone who's reading would have anything against a gay relationship. It's just one of the possibilities I'm considering for two characters. Seems like a challange and I also want to know how the losties would react to something like that. (Sawyer would have a blast with the nicknames!)_

_So, if you don't want to story to take that route, let me know and I'll try to think up something else. Also, the relationship wouldn't be just... slash, you know? It probably wouldn't go past a kiss or anything._

_Well, happy holidays! I'll probably update at least once or twice next week because my school has winter break! Yey winter break!!_

_-Got Scots?_

_Songs: The Devil Never Sleeps by Iron & Wine_

_Carousel by Iron & Wine_

_(They're a really great band for rainy days and for writing and reading too.)_


	6. Adam Ant vs The Ramones

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Six_

Charlie

When you first start a band you don't realise all the drama that comes with it. And you would think that I'd be the one to know. I suppose I must have forgotten.

Seeing as Rose is really the only person Ewan hangs around, I get why she's ticked off at him. But I can't see why she wants him out of the band. I mean we _need_ him. Where else are we going to find a lead singer with as much charisma as him?

This afternoon at rehearsal, we were discussing song choice and once again there was some argument. Everybody had different taste. I like rock, Hurley's a big fan of Jack Johnson and John Mayer type stuff, Ewan likes anything Rose doesn't and Rose will listen to anything Ewan can't stand.

"What about Adam Ant?" Ewan grinned. "Bring a little 80's back to the island?"

"You think I'm actually going to sing something by that prick?" Rose argued.

"Sorry?" Ewan glared at her.

"I'm not singing Adam Ant," Rosie frowned.

"Don't drink, don't smoke—what do you do? Don't drink, don't smoke—what do you do? Subtle innuendos follow, must be something inside." Although Ewan was lying in the sand, he somehow managed to dance along as he sang.

"Oh my God, you homo," Rose groaned.

There was a moment of awkward silence when Ewan stared at Rose in disbelief. "Fine," he snapped as he continued to glare at her and sat up. "Hurley," he said. "What do you want to sing?"

"Dude, don't bring me into this. I'll sing whatever, man."

"Charlie?" Ewan asked.

I had to think for a second. I had already chosen the Beatles, Hurley had already chosen Iron & Wine. It was really up to Ewan and Rose. That was the bit that scared me. We were either going to end up singing show tunes or screamo. I had to decide. Quickly. "How about… some classic Ramones."

"No," Ewan whined. This crowd was not easy to please.

"Why not?" Rose snarled.

"Because I am not singing Ramones. Everybody knows what they sound like."

"So you're afraid they'll figure out you suck?" Rose smiled. She was perched on top of a rock, looking out at the ocean and rolling her eyes. Hurley and I sat to her right on identical rocks and Ewan was sitting up in front of us. I glanced over at Hurley. I could not take much more of this.

"No!" Ewan squealed. "I just don't want to do something classic. Now shut the hell up."

"You—oh my God," Rosie shook her head.

"Guys, come on," Hurley interfered. "Let's try to be adults here."

"I am—" Ewan began, but stopped when he heard me strumming my guitar.

"Running in circles, chasing our tails, coming back as we are. Nobody said it was easy, it's such a shame for us to part," I skipped right to the chorus so that everyone would know what I was singing.

"Coldplay," Ewan said softly. His eyes lit up. "We could sing Coldplay."

"I don't know…" Rose said uneasily.

"How about one Coldplay song and one by somebody else?"

Rose smirked at this idea. "We normally do three songs. Does that mean Ewan and I get to choose the last two?"

"Sure," I shrugged, curious to see what they would choose.

"Anything?" Ewan mused, stroking his chin. "Fine," he looked directly at Rose. "Adam Ant it is. 'Desperate But Not Serious'."

"You'll have to teach me that one, mate," I said warily. I hoped our audience would at least be able to laugh at how all of Adam Ant's lyrics were about sex.

"Oh yeah?" little Rosie challenged. "Ramones it is then, pal."

"No!" Ewan cried immediately. "No, please!"

"_You_ chose _Adam Ant_," she raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

* * *

A bit later I met up with Claire and decided to talk with her about the situation with the band. Little Aaron was napping and Claire was reading on her bed beside him when I decided to sit down next to her. "Hey, Claire," I smiled. It was nice to see her not being stressed out by the baby.

"Hi, Charlie," she barely looked up from _Watership Down_.

"The band's having some issues," I stated.

"Really?" Finally, Claire looked up from her book and her pretty, blue eyes met mine. I swear, I could look in to those eyes forever.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Ewan and Rose don't get along at all."

"Why not?"

"Different music styles, I guess. Well, that and Rose thinks Ewan's a show-off which is…"

"Correctly assumed?" Claire grinned.

"I guess," I laughed. "At times, he can get a bit carried away, but he says he does it all for the audience. And I believe him."

"And what about Rose? Why doesn't Ewan like Rose?"

"Because she's honest. She'll let him know when he's showing off."

"That's tough," Claire thought. She marked her place in her book with her finger. "And where are you and Hurley in all this?"

"Standing at a distance," I chuckled. "A very very far distance."

* * *

_Happy New Year's! If you have any suggestions of songs you would like the band to sing, let me know! I'll add in as many as I can!_

_Songs:_

_Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant_

_The Scientist by Coldplay_


	7. An Agreement

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Seven_

**Rose**

When the plane first crashed, and it was the first night on the island, it seemed as if everyone around me had a friend or a loved one to spend the night with. There they all were in little clusters. There was Charlie and Claire, Sun and Jin, Shannon and Boone, Paolo and Nikki, Jack and his group of injured people and so on.

On my first night on the island, I sat alone. Not because I chose to, but because people chose not to sit with me. I know that most people are not keen on the way I dress. They think that just because I am twenty-four and my wardrobe consists of all black that I automatically want to be alone. They think that when I am sitting by myself with my hood pulled over my head that I'm plotting how to destroy the world or something. They think that I hate them.

That's not true. I don't want to be alone. Nobody wants to be alone.

And so around sunset, when I headed towards Hurley's tent, I was in an extremely unusual mood. I was exuberant. It was the first time anyone had ever invited me over to spend time with them. And it was the greatest feeling in the world.

"Hey, Hurls," I smiled as I high-fived Hurley.

He motioned to a circle of guests sitting around a fire. So this was what he meant when he had said, "I'm having a kind of party."

"Join us," Hurley said. "You're just in time for the pineapple Claire and Charlie made for us."

There it was again. Claire and Charlie. A couple. Friends. And here I was, standing alone. I forced a smile as Hurley walked behind me to greet Paolo and Nikki.

With one glance at the circle, I could tell there was nowhere I actually wanted to sit. There was Charlie and Claire and there was Hurley's empty spot. Paolo and Nikki would be joining the circle soon. And then there was that insane man, Desmond. And who was sitting down next to him, laughing at some story he was telling about his _marvellous_ life? The one and only Ewan.

I had no other choice. I didn't know Paolo and Nikki at all. Charlie and Claire were being all cutesy and gross. Hurley wasn't sitting down yet. And there was an empty space right next to Ewan. It figures. Who else would want to sit next to him if they had first choice?

I rolled my eyes and took a seat.

To say the least, Ewan looked surprised. He just sort of stared at me. He stopped his not-so-important conversation and said, "Hey, Rose."

"Hi," I smiled.

"Have you met Desmond?" he asked me.

I didn't really want to meet the lunatic, but hey, I didn't really want to be talking to Ewan either. "No," I said.

"Oh!" he said in a weird sort of high-pitched way. "Well, Desmond this is Rose and Rose this is Desmond."

The two of us shook hands. You know, even when Desmond's smiling he looks slightly creepy. I guess that's what three years in a hatch can do to you.

Ewan told Desmond, "You've seen Rose in the band." Then he turned back to face both of us and said, "Our next performance is tomorrow night. I'm singing Adam Ant."

"And he's singing the Ramones too," I added.

"Yes, against my will," Ewan turned to Desmond and the man chuckled at what ever face Ewan was making.

"What kind of music do you like, Desmond?" I was being strangely conversational.

"It's been a while since I've heard anything other than 70's music," he shrugged. "I don't really know much about 'modern music'."

"I thought you said you liked Oasis," Ewan nudged him.

"Oh, right," Desmond said. "I like their song, 'Wonderwall'. Have you heard it?"

I nodded, but before I could tell him that I thought it was overplayed, Ewan interrupted with his ridiculous singing. "I said maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me—"

Charlie picked up his head across the circle and said, "I love that song, mate!"

Ewan glanced over at Desmond and then back at Charlie. I could tell he had an idea. "How about we sing that next time? Not tomorrow, but the next time we perform?"

"Sounds good," Hurley piped in as he took a seat between Paolo and Desmond.

"Rose? Any opposition?" Charlie asked.

"Uch," Ewan got his whole body into his dramatic eye roll. "Why'd you have to ask?"

"Actually," I glanced over at Ewan. "I'd really like to sing that one."

"Really?" Ewan's eyes widened as if I had just told him Broadway music was "cool". And suddenly, before I could laugh at him, before I could point out the ridiculous face he was making, he wrapped me in an awkward hug. He sighed and then I pulled out of the embrace as quick as possible. As I had guessed, during that brief two seconds, everyone was staring at us.

Ewan, still in his "I love you" trance, said, "Thanks, Rose."

I saw Hurley and Charlie exchange a look.

Was I supposed to respond to this? "You're… welcome…?" I said and Hurley and Charlie burst out in to laughter.

I watched with amusement as Ewan's face turned red. "Well…" I smirked. "At least we can all decide on a song, right?"

* * *

_Only three weeks until Season Four starts! I advise you to go to the ABC website and watch the Lost recap in 8 minutes and 15 seconds. It's pretty hilarious. My favourite line is 'Sun finds out she's pregnant, but Jin is sterile... what's up with that?'._

_And poor Desmond. Rose always portrays him as a creep. But she's wrongggg!_

_Wonderwall by Oasis_

_-Got Scots?_


	8. Post Performance

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Eight_

**Ewan**

I really don't trust this flimsy sheet of paper to keep my deepest secrets safe. I don't carry this around notebook everywhere I go. And I especially don't trust some of the people on this island (Sawyer).

But I have to tell someone. It's just… every time I'm around Desmond, I feel like I have to impress him. I feel that way around most of the people I meet, but it's never been this… intense.

I wonder why I always feel like I have to impress people. I guess it's because at first glance, most people don't like me very much. How else am I supposed to get them to like me if not by impressing them?

Especially Desmond. He's the first one on this island even close to liking the real me.

For example. After our latest performance. I went over to visit Desmond as the rest of the band was chatting with some of the other "audience members". He was sitting by himself as usual and I accompanied him on the little log he was seated on. "Did you like it?" I was beaming because the last song I sang was my Adam Ant song. I don't mean to brag, but it was fan-bloody-tastic.

"I don't know that I liked the song," Desmond smiled. "But the way you sang it was great. I didn't know you could sing that high."

"Ooh hoo! Woo hoo hoo!" I sang the introduction to another Adam Ant song in my falsetto voice. I could feel all the eyes around me suddenly turning to watch me sing, but I didn't care.

Desmond laughed, but he looked a little embarrassed.

"I'm so glad you decided to come back," I smiled. "After the dancing incident."

This time he smiled, but hid his eyes from me. Why couldn't I get this guy talking?

"I mean… it's nice. When everybody else has someone to talk to after the shows… I mean, now I do too. Makes me feel important," I nudged him. And I wasn't lying. Talking to Desmond really does make me feel important.

"Well, thanks." Finally! Some words!

"Erm… so… did you like the rest of the show?"

"Yep." There was just a nod. And then he fell silent again.

"Are you going to answer any of my questions with more than just a 'yep'?"

He chuckled and looked up at me. I can't believe the feeling I get when I look in to his golden-brown eyes. It makes me nervous. With his eyes locked on mine, he said, "I'm just not in the mood to… chat."

"Oh," I was disappointed. I mean obviously. What else did he think I came over for?

I tapped my fingers on my knees and watched him to see if he felt bad about his response at all. Nope. No signs of regret whatsoever. Thanks Desmond.

I stood up to leave and saw that Rose and Hurley were heading back to their tents. Maybe it was time for me to leave too. I took about three steps and then turned around. Desmond had stood up behind me. "Yes?" I asked him. And now that I think about it, I said it in a kind of nasty way.

He gave me a strange look. It was a bit like a glance that would make other people think only I could understand what it meant. But the fact was, I hadn't the slightest clue what Desmond was trying to tell me with that glance.

"Y-you wanna come back to my place with me?" I asked tentatively. I said place because I don't really have a tent. I have a towel. And saying "you wanna come back to my towel with me?" just sounds odd.

"That'd be nice," Desmond said.

And so we went back to my towel. We sat down next to each other and I heard Desmond let out a sigh of relief. This was good news. He was relieved to be with me. It felt right when I rested my head on his shoulder. He didn't flinch or anything. He actually wrapped his arm around my shoulders. It felt absolutely wonderful to feel like I was actually… wanted on this island. The fact that Desmond actually wanted to be closer to me made me feel nice. I snuggled my head closer to him and said, "It feels good to get away from all them. Every once in a while."

"Exactly, brotha. As you've probably figured out by now, I don't like the attention," he laughed.

"Yes, I've noticed," I sighed.

Our conversation didn't get much further than that. It was just Desmond and I talking about ordinary things. Gossiping about the other survivors, talking about how we were running low on all of the good food, talking about the weather even. It just felt so good to be a part of something. It felt good to be a part of a relationship. It felt good to be listened to.

As I'm writing all this now, I feel like there's a bit of a barrier between what I say that I'm thinking and what I really am thinking. As little sense as that makes. I guess what I really want to say is… oh God. I can't say this.

You know if I write another word about bloody Desmond… I'm going to throw this freaking notebook in the ocean. Let the waves wash it away, take it where ever it has to go because it obviously does not belong anywhere near _my_ shaking hands.

I hate myself for saying this. Because the last time I admitted to… to something like this, I only made a fool out of myself and the other person involved. But I feel exactly the same way with Desmond as I felt in high school. It's just every time Desmond and I are together like this, I feel really weird. I can't swallow or breathe or function at all, frankly. I feel my heart beating faster. I feel the need to impress him so that he'll want to be around me. I want him to like me so badly and I swear I thought I was over this phase in my life, but I… I think I have a crush on Desmond.

I can't believe I just said that. Because that's not me. I swear to you that's not me. Trust me, in the acting business you meet a lot of gay guys and I'm not just another one of them. I'm not like them at all. I'm not flamboyant and I don't talk funny and I definitely do _not_ like Desmond. No, I'm not like that at all.

I'm sorry but I can't write anymore. This has been too much. I just feel awful. Really really awful. I know that if I keep acting this way I'm going to get in trouble. Because of my foolishness and my feelings I'm going to get Desmond in trouble too. And I couldn't ever do that to Desmond. I'd feel awful.

I can't write anymore. My hand is shaking so bad it's gotten to the point that I can't read my last sentence (although I know in my head that it was "I can't write anymore"). As "gay" as this seems, I'm just going to go cry. And stay as far away from Desmond as bloody possible.

* * *

_Poor Ewan. This actually got me kind of depressing while writing it. Not to mention I was watching the news at the same time. That probably added to the depression. I think I'm going to go do something happier now... :)_

_Two weeks until Lost!!_

_-Got Scots?_


	9. Oh My Godddd!

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Nine_

**Hurley**

So I'm standing by the food tent talking to Jack. I'm basically getting a crash-course on what _actually_ happened this week.

While Charlie, Ewan, Rose and I have been doing all this lounging on the beach, singing songs and crap, Jack and Kate have actually been doing stuff. So being a concerned citizen of this island, I like to know what's going on. Jack's just about to tell me something about the Others when guess who walks by us? Rose.

She goes in to the food tent and grabs a box of cereal. From inside the tent she says loudly, "Hurley, get in here."

I look at Jack and just kind of shrug. I'm guessing this has something to do with the band. I say to him, "I guess I'll see you around, man."

"Okay," Jack says and starts walking back towards his tent.

I'm a little angry as I walk inside and see Rose fixing herself some cereal. She's humming some song I don't know. "What's up?" I ask her.

"Okay," she starts speaking very softly. "Last night. I walk out in to the woods to well… pee." I make a face (she really could have left that out) and she picks up on it. "Everyone does it!" Rose says defensively.

"Anyway," I say, moving the story forward.

"Anyway, I hear this—well what I thought was an animal crying. So I head over to the noise and as I do it starts to sound more like a person. And I can't figure out who it is. I can tell it's a guy though, which is kind of creepy in itself."

"Dude, why does it creep girls out when guys cry?" I ask.

Rose glares at me because I interrupted _her_ story.

"Continue," I shrug.

"I'm standing behind a tree like five feet away and this _guy_ is resting his head on a rock like this—" she shows me how dramatic the pose was by pretending the table is the rock. By the description, I can pretty much already guess who it turns out to be. "And he's just sobbing. Like hard-core sobbing. And then all of the sudden, he turns over and I finally get a look at his face and run for my _life_. Any guesses?"

"Yeah," I have to laugh at the face she's making.

Rose knows that I've caught on and starts imitating Ewan immediately. She actually puts on a really good show. There's some over-the-top fake crying and then she pauses and says, "You know what we're going to hear at rehearsal today, don't you?" I chuckle because I really want to hear more of her impressions. I know what you're thinking (you're thinking nothing, you're a notebook for crying out loud). It's mean to make fun of someone who's been crying. But knowing Ewan, it was probably over a broken nail.

Rose puts on this amazingly hilarious gay guy voice. "Oh my Godddd you guys. I _simply_ can't sing anymore. I've just lost all motivation to like sing. Oh my Godddd this reminds me of a play I was in once! Even though I've really only ever been in two plays my entire life, I just keep rotating the stories to make it sound like _more_!"

The way she did this giggle thing at the end just had me howling with laughter. The two of us were laughing up a storm until I finally found my breath enough to say, "That was good! Maybe we should add impressions in to our singing act."

"Oh my Godddd!" she exclaims.

We laugh a little bit more and then try to compose ourselves because someone has entered the tent. Both Rose and I freeze up as we realise who it is. Ewan. Maybe it _wasn't_ such a good idea to make fun of him. But by the look on his face, he doesn't seem to have a problem with me being there.

"Hey," he forces a smile, but shows no signs that he's angry with us.

"Hey," Rose and I respond awkwardly at the same time. Everyone sort of shares this uncomfortable laugh.

Ewan finally picks up on the fact that something's wrong and raises his eyebrows. "You guys alright?" he kind of snarls.

"Yeah," Rose says. "What'd you think of the performance last night?"

"Oh. Is that what you were talking about?" Ewan smiles. "I think it was great. You weren't talking about my amazing falsetto, were you?"

Nice save, Rose. Get Ewan talking about himself and he won't stop even if a fire alarm goes off. "Last night was cool, man," I say. "I actually kind of liked that Adam Ant song." It is a lie, but at this point I'll do anything to make Ewan feel better.

"Really?" his face lights up. I wonder if Adam Ant is some sort of hero of his. Because, frankly the guy scares the crap out of me. He wears a lot of what I understand is called "guyliner", frilly shirts from the seventeen hundreds or something and bows in his hair. Yeah, man. I dunno. Questionable hero if you ask me.

"Yeah," I try to shrug it off. But Ewan keeps persisting.

"You think we should sing more of his songs?" he asks hopefully.

"_No_."

"Maybe…"

Guess who said what?

Ewan rolls his eyes at Rose, but all in good fun. Just as he does, I watch his pal Desmond enter the tent behind him. How many people are we going to fit in here?

Ewan continues, "Rose, you just _wish_ you could sing like me."

"Not… really…" Rose says. As she says this, Ewan's eyes avert and I watch him realise that Desmond is in the tent with us. It is as if a wave of shock hits him. "Whatever," he says, grabbing a breakfast bar from the table. "I've gotta go." He leaves the tent as quick as possible and Rose and I give each other looks.

"You know what's up with him?" Rose asks Desmond, who is fishing through the boxes of oatmeal.

Des turns around and looks at us as if he isn't sure who we are talking to. "Me?" he asks.

"Yeah," Rose says. "What's up with Ewan?"

"Oh," Desmond relaxes a little, now that he knows what's going on. "I haven't the slightest, to be honest. The last time he talked to me he seemed fine."

"So you…"—Rose clears her throat before imitating his accent—"haven't the slightest?"

"No," Desmond stares back at her and then reaches for a bowl. "I haven't."

Rose looks over at me. "Weird," she says.

"Yeah," I agree. I shrug and add, "Maybe he'll talk about it with us later."

"Hmm," Rose nods. "I'm sure our little drama queen will have to bring it up at some point."

I had nodded my head in agreement, but later that afternoon at rehearsal, absolutely nothing was said. I could see from time to time Ewan would get this sad look over his face. It kind of looked like he was chiding himself inside. To be honest, I'm kind of concerned. What if it has something to do with the way Rose (and I guess the rest of the band too) have been treating him? I hope it's not because of that.

* * *

_Oh, multitasking! Baking cookies AND updating fanfiction at the same time! Yes, incase you asked me in your head, I AM excellent. :D_

_But Ewan's not feeling as excellent as I am! Poor lad. We'll see what becomes of this. Do you guys enjoy Hurley's chapters as much as I do? They're so... Hurley, man. Oooh and Lost is in less than two weeks! Exciting, I know!!_

_-Got Scots?_

_PS: I absolutley love that you guys review each chapter! It's really nice to get feedback! I'm so glad you're all interesting in my pointless fluff!! 3_

_PPS: I hope you all enjoy Ewan's character as much as I obviously do (I mean the whole story is practically centred around him). If you want to have another character more involved, let me know I'm spending too much time with my favourite drama "king"! And don't worry, a chapter from Charlie's POV is coming up in about two chapters or so._


	10. Let There be Love

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Ten_

**Desmond**

It's been four days now since I've last seen him. In another life, four days didn't seem like much at all. Four days would pass by quicker than a day's holiday. Four days wasn't even a full work week. No. Three years ago, I certainly would have never thought that four days could seem so long.

Joining a group of plane-crash survivors a month or so after they've inhabited the land isn't as easy as it seems. By the time I got here, everyone seemed to be settled. Jack used to come along every once and a while to say hello to me, but then he brought Juliet back with him. And all that stopped.

Every now and then Charlie and I talk. Usually about things concerning him that I'd rather not write about in this notebook. It's not real talk between him and I. It's me being concerned about him and he being concerned about himself back. It's not the same as when Ewan and I talk.

Four days. I can sense there's something wrong, but I'm not sure that I should be the one to talk to him about it. After all, I'm probably just another acquaintance to him—I see him chatting with other people all of the time. Very social, he is. Nothing like me.

I failed to attend the latest performance of that band with him, Charlie, Rose and Hurley in it. I don't believe they've chosen a name for it yet. I just didn't feel like going the other night. Not that anything was keeping me—especially the Charles Dickens book that I've read three times over already.

I'm surprised he hasn't come to talk with me about it yet. I'm surprised he hasn't come to chide me for not coming; ridicule me for being antisocial and remind me of my fear of dancing. I wish he would just hurry up and head over to my tent, his face beaming with excitement after tonight's performance.

* * *

Well, I got my wish. I pretended I wasn't able to see him sulking over towards my tent with his hands shoved in his pockets. His head hung low, I couldn't tell if he was deep in thought or actually upset.

When he got closer to my tent, I closed my book and sat up. He stood before me for a few long seconds and slowly raised his head. I can't imagine what my face must've looked like but as he lifted his chin I could feel every inch of me flood with concern. I watched the tears silently stream down his face and his shaking hands try to collect them before they left his chin. I wanted so badly to embrace him then, but all I could do was stare at him, perplexed.

He was obviously thinking the same thing I was because he practically flung himself at me. It was truly the most awkward hug I've ever been in—me sitting cross-legged on the floor and him kneeling down with his arms stretched over my shoulders. I didn't know what to do other than pat him on the back as he sobbed.

I haven't the slightest as to how long we were there, but I'm sure Ewan finally felt his knees begin to ache and sat down next to me with a moan. After a while he croaked, "Desmond?"

I looked over at him. I wasn't even sure I could find my voice to reply with, I hadn't used it in so long.

"I… I'm not sure what it is that's making me feel this way, but…" his eyes darted away from mine every time they came close. "Well I… haven't been able to escape thinking about you, no matter how hard I tried. I just wish it didn't take a bloody plane crash for me to meet someone like you. You see, back home, not a whole lot of people… listen to me like you do. And I—really value—I mean…"

"What do you mean?" I leaned in closer to him, sincerly unsure of the point he was trying to make.

"I love you, Desmond." The look on his face told me that the words came out unexpectedly.

I could feel my face turn bright red as if someone was watching us. I could sense him watching me hopefully for an answer—even when I turned away. "No. No you don't," I laughed as I looked out the side of my tent.

"But I do," Ewan seemed confused as to how I could deny this.

"No," I laughed again, finding it suddenly hard to swallow. "I don't think you understand, brotha. I have a—" I turned back to him as I said this and I could see tears starting to form in his eyes again. "I have a girlfriend waiting for me back home."

Ewan couldn't seem to wrap his mind around this. "A girlfriend you haven't seen in three bloody years!" he exclaimed. We stared at each other: my eyes full of confusion, his eyes full of shock. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean that… so I guess… I guess you're not interested in… me."

The way he said it made him sound like he could barely get his mind to work straight. No pun intended. I mean, he was just, so… frazzled. I shook my head at him and answered, "I'm sorry."

"Oh," he said softly. Before I could comfort him anymore, he stood up slowly as if he was hoping for me to stop him. Then, when I didn't do anything, he hurried out of the tent and down the beach. I watched him walk along the line where the ocean meets the sand until he was out of sight. I buried my head in my hands and breathed a ragged sigh. A thousand thoughts raced through my head at a time.

Until I was interrupted. "Hey, Desmond!" a cheery English accent could be heard just outside of my tent. I jumped at the sound of it. "You missed our little show," Charlie said.

"Charlie…" I trailed off, trying to put a stopper on my thoughts and look somewhat collected.

"Why weren't you there, mate? We sang 'Let There be Love'. By Oasis. I thought you would like that." I watched with half a smile as Charlie peeked in to my tent and then sat down next to me. He set his guitar on his lap and began strumming away. "Let there be love, oh, let there be love."

"Put that away," I said. It probably came off nastier than it had sounded in my head because Charlie stared at me with wide eyes.

"I thought you liked that kind of music," Charlie said childishly.

"No… I mean yes, I like Oasis. I just don't want to hear anymore about love," I quickly got myself out of that tent and slowly strolled down to the water. I had hoped that Charlie would leave me alone, but seconds later I could hear him bounding down the beach, his guitar slapping against his back.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he said, slightly out of breath.

"What's wrong is…" I was pretty sure that Ewan didn't want me telling Charlie about what had just happened. "What's wrong is that it's hard to know when to let go of what's… back there. Back home. At any moment, our lives could resume again. We could get rescued and—oh, who am I kidding. We're never going to get bloody rescued." I sounded a bit like I was talking to myself, and in retrospect I _was_. But at least I was doing it calmly and didn't sound like I was on the verge of tears.

"You never know…" Charlie said softly.

"Exactly," I added quickly. "How am I supposed to know when to let go of the past if there's a chance I may never see it again?"

"Is this about the girlfriend…?" Charlie guessed.

"Yes."

"Do you miss her?"

"No—yes, but that's not what this is about."

"What's it about, then?" Charlie looked up at me. "Come on, spit it out," he chuckled.

"I…" I paused to think about my answer for a second. I looked up at the night sky and remembered the two nights I had spent doing this exact same thing, but with Ewan by my side. He was right. It was hard for me not to think about him, even when he wasn't there.

For a good few seconds I stared in to the inky scenery in front of me. Charlie, respectfully, stayed quiet. It's something about the dark that makes us feel like no one can see us or hear us. In the dark of a bedroom, lovers are willing to become more intimate. In the dark of a cinema, people shove fists of calorie-packed popcorn in to their mouths. And in the dark of the night, I told Charlie, "I think I may have feelings for someone who's… not Penny."

* * *

_Yey! The first Desmond chapter! I was really having difficulty writing for him, so give me feedback as to whether or not he's in character. Oh, and what did everyone think of the season premire? I thought it was pretty good. I liked the Jack/Locke face-off at the end. And, of course, all of Desmond's lines._

_-Got Scots?_


	11. Charlie the Creeper

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Eleven_

**Charlie**

Now I must start off by saying that gossiping is not a regular thing for me. As a matter of fact, I rarely gossip. But this was just too good.

After my strange conversation with Desmond, I headed back to the tent I share with Claire. I told her the whole story. How Desmond has this mysterious crush on someone and how he wouldn't tell me who it was no matter how many times I asked. She and I lay down to sleep that night and just as soon as I would feel like sleep was coming my way, Claire would interrupt me with another name. The one time I was so bloody close that everything around me was practically gone. And then all of the sudden I heard, "Sun."

"Nah," I replied, immediately snapping back in to reality. "Sun's got Jin."

"Maybe that's why he couldn't say who it was," Claire sounded pretty excited.

"Have you ever seen Desmond and Sun hanging around each other?" I asked.

There was a pause. Then, like a little kid on Christmas, Claire piped up again. "Maybe it's secret."

"Uch, Claire," I sighed. "Can this wait until morning?"

"Alright," Claire taunted. "But by morning I'm going to ask him myself."

"No!" I stuck my hand up in the air—as if she could see it. It was pitch black out. "I promised him I wouldn't tell."

After a minute, Claire sighed. "Fine," she said. "But I_ am_ going to figure out who this girl is. Alright?"

"Alright."

* * *

The next morning, I found myself out in the middle of the jungle with Claire while Sun was watching baby Aaron. She had me lying down under a bush—a million bugs were in my hair and my stomach was growling loud enough to give us away. We were spying on Desmond.

"What's he doing?" Claire whispered. She was crouching down behind a large tree.

"I can't see," I whispered back, slightly annoyed with her. We had been doing this for two hours now. I moved closer out of the bush so that my nose was barely peeking out of the bush. "Oh God!" I said instantly, immediately pulling my self out of the bush. I hurried to stand up and start speed-walking the hell out of that jungle.

"What? What is it?" Claire was soon behind me.

"The man's taking a piss for Christ's sake, Claire!" I exclaimed, still in a whisper.

I turned to watch as her face got red and she began walking faster than me out of that jungle. She was trying to hide her laughter as the two of us quickly made our way back to the beach.

"You know," I said, finally catching up to her. "I feel like a little bit of a creeper. I mean come on. Please say you don't expect me to go back in to that jungle."

"No," Claire shook her head. "I don't. It was just funny. The face that you made."

I rolled my eyes at this and asked, "Well did you get any closer to figuring out who it is?"

Claire shook her head no.

"Here," I grinned. "Let me highlight Desmond's morning for you." She burst out in to laughter. "He wakes up. He goes fishing by himself. Exchanges one or two words with Jin—and I'm pretty sure it's not Jin that he's crushing on—in hopes of getting fish bait. He cooks the fish for breakfast. He says good morning to Jack—pretty sure it's not Jack either—and then he goes out in to the jungle to take a piss."

Claire was clutching her stomach in laughter as we made our way over to the tent. "I know it's not Jack or Jin," she smiled. "But it has to be someone. Just… keep a close eye on him, okay?"

* * *

So I asked around. I knew that if I found out who this mysterious girl was, Claire would be in debt to me—forever. Claire likes those kinds of gossipy things. The problem is that Desmond doesn't really associate with anyone. So I had no idea who to ask. I wandered through the day, going through a list of all of the survivors in my head. Until finally—I came across a gold mine.

Ewan was sitting on the little beach towel he called home when I came across him. He was just sitting there, doing nothing. Meditating maybe. Well, he certainly looked surprised to see me when I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he sat up straight. "What are you doing here?"

"I've got a question for you," I smiled. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead, there's… not much room," he made a face at his living space as if he expected it to grow larger as he said this.

"It's Desmond," I said as I sat down cross-legged. Judging by the face Ewan made, this was the last name he wanted to hear. "You can't tell him I said this, but I was talking to him the other night and apparently he's got the hots for someone on this island," I chuckled. Ewan just stared at me curiously. "And I figured," I continued. "Since you two seem to talk a lot, you might have a clue as to who this girl is."

"Why do you _care_?" were the first harsh words out of Ewan's mouth.

I shrugged and tried to laugh it off. But apparently for Ewan this was not a laughing matter. He gave me this glare. "I don't know," I shrugged again. "It's really bothering Claire, though. I think maybe she thinks it's her."

Ewan frowned and seemed to stare off to the side for a bit. I watched him, biting my lip because I had a feeling Desmond hadn't told him about this yet. I added, "It's no big deal, I'm sure. Des was just concerned so he was talking to me about it a bit."

"Yeah…" Ewan scratched his head. "And he didn't tell you who it was?"

"Nope."

"You should ask him," he tilted his head to the left. I looked over and there was Desmond standing and talking to Kate. Ewan put on this obviously fake laugh, but I went with it. He smiled at looked at me honestly, "I mean let's face it. Now I'm interested too."

I chuckled at this and was about to say something, but he cut in again.

"Interested in who the _girl_ is—not him," he clarified. I gave him a funny look and he did the weird laugh again.

"Maybe I will ask him," I said as I stood up and headed over to where Desmond was. It was perfect timing. As soon as I walked up, Kate walked away.

Des saw me walking over and said, "Hey, Charlie."

"Hey," I smiled. "Got a question for you, Des." He nodded and opened the water bottle in his hand. After he took a sip, I continued. "Remember that girl you were talking to me about last night?"

"What girl?" Desmond looked at me with confusion. He wasn't joking.

"Uh… the girl that uh… made you not so interested in the girl you got back home?" I asked.

"I—oh." This all came as quite a shock to Desmond. It was as if we hadn't had that conversation at all.

"You mind telling me who she is?" I asked curiously.

He considered it for a moment, but then firmly shook his head no.

"Why not?" I lowered my eyebrows in frustration. It couldn't be _that_ bad. The worst thing that could come out of his mouth was "Claire", right? And even so, there was no _way_ he was getting Claire.

"I er…" he forced a smile, but looked away. "I just can't."

"Well… are you sure? Because if you told me, I could figure out of she liked you back or not," I said cheerfully. "Just like middle school."

"No… thanks," Desmond frowned. "See you around, okay?" He nodded at me and didn't even allow me room to respond before he turned and headed to his tent. I watched him go, but with the most confusion in the world. This guy was insanely difficult to figure out. Now I had even less of an idea of who this girl was than I did this morning. What was I supposed to tell Claire?

* * *

_Ohmygod I'm so angry. I just edited this whole thing and then it didn't save! Darn you, fanfiction!_

_So anyways what I wrote in this little author section BEFORE was that my theory on the Oceanic six is that they are: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Claire and Aaron. I said that wouldn't it be cool if there were Aaron flash fowards? I also said that Lost was really good this week. And I said that I'm sorry there was no Rose or Hurley in this chapter, but I'm beginning to miss the two of them so they will definitely show up next chapter!_

_So I hope you liked the chapter (despite the lack of Hurley and Rose)! Please review and while you're at it, tell me your theories on Lost!_

_Sorry Pseudonymismypseudonym (did I spell your name right?), but your hopes for Ewan and Rose are being crushed:( Don't worry, I have really funny chapters in store for the two of them, but unfortunately not as lovers. :( Sorryyy!_

_-Got Scots?_


	12. Could it Be?

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Twelve_

**Rose**

When the band plays, it's really the only time that the whole island gets together. Everyone's there sitting by the fire after dinner, listing to us play. Even the Jack and Kate crew who apparently are more important than the rest of us and go trekking through the jungle to find hatches all day. Or whatever they do.

The point is, everyone's together. It's a good time to get talking to the kinds of people you don't normally see. Especially those who think they're more important than you. For example, Sawyer.

For this performance, Charlie introduced us to a band he likes called Vampire Weekend. The scary part is, after he played the first song for us, the entire band agreed that we wanted to play their songs for our performance. Even our little drama king was okay with it. He even made my favourite song into a duet so that both of us had solos this week. And trust me, that was a brave step for our little stage hog. He doesn't even like it when I sing in the _background_ for him.

So we were singing my favourite song of the three Charlie had introduced. It's called "Walcott". Did I mention Ewan even let me sing the first part? The audience was so surprised to hear me start singing first that after that, their eyes were glued to the show. It started with me going: "Walcott. Don't you know that it's insane? Don't you wanna get out of Cape Cod? Out of Cape Cod tonight!"

I hate to say it, but I was actually nervous. Sawyer was sitting in the front row. It didn't help me any that he was sitting next to Kate.

Ewan sang, "Walcott. All the way to New Jersey. All the way to the Garden State. Out of Cape Cod tonight!" As he did, I saw Sawyer but his arm around Kate. I was bloody furious! I mean, how could he even think about doing that when I was right there! Thank God the next part of the song was where Ewan and I screamed/sang. Let me tell you, my part was more screaming than singing.

God, that Sawyer thing really pissed me off.

So when I saw him after the show and he was Kateless, I was still kinda pissed. I walked up to him and asked, "Did you like the show?"

"Oh, hey," Sawyer turned around and said. "Yeah. Who did you say the songs were by again?"

"Some band Charlie introduced us to," I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about Vampire Weekend.

"They're not really my style, but I kinda like'd 'em," Sawyer smiled.

"Hey… uh…" I began slowly. "What's going on between you and Kate?"

"Me and Freckles?" Sawyer questioned. "Why're you interested, kid?"

Him calling me "kid" was just about the last straw. "Because," I tried to add calmly. "You telling me what was going on between you and Kate would probably tell me what was going on between Kate and Jack."

"What do you mean?" Sawyer asked as he stared back at where Kate and Claire were sitting by the fire. "You seen those two together?"

"Nope," I shrugged, but couldn't help smirking. "They just talk a lot."

"Talk, huh?" Sawyer grumbled. "Well thanks for the news, pipsqueak. I'm gonna go figure out what's really going on." And without another word he headed back over to Kate.

* * *

It would be safe to say I was much more than pissed when I ran in to Ewan later that night. If I had been paying more attention, I might have realised what Charlie had to point out to me after I had spoken to Ewan. Drama Boy (Hurley and I decided this would be his superhero name if he had one) hadn't sat down all night. He'd just wandered throughout the crowd the entire night, but never actually sat down and had a conversation with someone.

"Hey," I called to him from a few feet away. "Did you lose something? Your balls maybe?" I joked.

He looked at me like he was going to _kill_ _kill kill_ me. So, I walked over to him.

"That's not the kind of joke you just shout across the beach," he snarled.

"Sit down," I said and watched him roll his eyes and sit down in the sand. "I've got something that'll make you much happier." He stared at me in disbelief as I sat down cross-legged next to him. "I've come to ask you for your advice. On… eh… love."

He immediately burst out in to laughter. Maybe he'd been having a few drinks instead of looking for his man-parts.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"_My_ advice? And since when do I know how to—forget it. What's your question?"

"How do you get someone to like you if they're already kind of… _attached _to someone else?"

The look on his face was priceless. He started laughing again. "That seems to be the question of the week, doesn't it?" he smiled.

"Meaning?" I asked slowly. This guy was so off in his own world.

"Meaning I have no idea. I used to think that simply being my charming, handsome, charismatic self—"

"I get it," I glared at him.

"Hey, uh, Ewan."

I looked up and all of the sudden the last person I wanted to see appeared behind us. The creeper! Desmond! Uch. And he was still as gross and unshaven as he was yesterday. That guy is scary as shit. Especially when he appears behind you in the middle of a conversation in the middle of the dark. All we needed was that shower music from _Psycho_.

"Desmond," Ewan smiled. I don't know how on Earth you can say that name with a smile on your face.

The creeper did this weird thing where he leant down and shook Ewan's hand—who _does_ that? And he said, "Great show. I uh… really liked the songs."

"That was Vampire Weekend," I said.

"Oh," Desmond got all embarrassed as if he hadn't even noticed I was there.

"Thank you, Desmond," Ewan smiled up at him. I had a feeling that there was something going on here that I was missing out on.

"After you two are done, would you mind speaking with me, Ewan?" Desmond asked and when he made the face that he made, I _knew_ I was missing something.

"Oh, we're done," Ewan began to stand up when I yanked on his arm.

"What's going on?" I asked the two of them.

They gave each other this weird look and all I could do was stare at them in disbelief. Ewan was giving Desmond this kind of stupid look that read "duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". And Desmond was making this kind of frown face that read "_I_ don't even know what's going on".

It's when Ewan makes faces like that "duhhhhhhh" face that I get embarrassed for him.

"What's going on?" I repeated.

Ewan made _more_ stupid faces—enough to fill a Harry Potter book. Desmond tried to save both of them with, "The two of us need to talk about something."

"I _know_ that," I crossed my arms and waited for one of them to give me an answer.

"It's guy stuff," Ewan said, but then tried to fight the smile on his face.

"_Like_?" My eyes grew wider and wider with each excuse. "Look I know what girl stuff is, but there's like absolutely _nothing_ you could classify as guy stuff."

"Maybe the reason you don't know about it is because it _is_ guy stuff," Ewan said as if this made sense at all.

"Guys are stupid," was my profound conclusion.

"And on that note, we leave," Ewan tilted his head and waved goodbye to me in the most effeminate way I have ever seen him wave goodbye.

And as soon as the effeminateness of that wave registered in my head, all the wheels in my head stopped turning. My jaw dropped wide open. I could practically see the glowing light bulb appear above my head. It couldn't be. There's no way it could be. I looked back at Drama Boy and the creeper heading off in to the woods. The look in Drama Boy's eyes explained it all. But there was still _no way_.

Could it be? Could Drama Boy and the creeper seriously be going out?

* * *

_I realised that I've been using the word creeper a lot. Desmond's nickname is 'The Creeper' and the title of the last chapter was called 'Charlie the Creeper'. One of my friends says creeper all the time so this is probably why I'm saying it so much..._

_Anyways, Drama Boy Creeper forever!_

_-Got Scots?_


	13. Movin' In!

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Thirteen_

**Ewan**

You would not be able to believe the excitement that surged through my body as I hurried down the beach with my suitcase in my hand. I was making my way towards Desmond's tent, replaying the conversation we had just had ten minutes ago over and over in my head. It started with:

"Look, brotha. I'm sorry that I may have judged everything you said too quickly. But, now that I've had time to think things over, I'm starting to think… I'm starting to think…"

"You're starting to _think_?" I grinned smugly, but it took Desmond a few second to finally laugh.

He looked over and smiled at me in the most wonderful way. The way he looked at me kind of carried a hint of "you're alright, kid". He then patted me on the back in a way that would suggest he'd never patted someone on the back before. I held in as many of my stupid little giggles as I could, but unfortunately two escaped.

We walked further in to the jungle and finally Desmond stopped and rested his hand on a tree trunk, leaning forward slightly as if this talk were exhausting him.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

He stared at the dirt. "After some time I realised that I… I really missed your company. I missed seeing you all of the time. I don't want to lose the very… small… friendship that we had."

I mean, it was cute and all, but the _whole _time he was just _staring_ at the dirt! As if the dirt was more interesting than me! But then again, maybe it was the fact that he was too shy to look at me that made it so adorable.

The whole time he had been talking, _I_ knew what was supposed to happen next. This was a moment made for the theatre. I could picture everything exactly like stage directions in a script.

You see, Desmond's character would be the one who's a little reluctant—no, a lot reluctant. Too shy to even look me in the eye. But despite all of this, he's madly in love with me.

I _knew_ it. It was bound to happen. I knew that this moment would come, and I _knew_ that he wouldn't be able to say it. But the words were right there. I could see them right behind the nervousness in his eyes! Of course, by now I had leant in a little closer than I should have and Desmond turned his head up to speak to me and it all happened at once.

He took a breath to speak—his eyes widened to see me so close—I leant in _way_ too far—our lips touched—mine pushing forward—his backing away in fear—our lips parted—but mine kept on going and soon—very clumsily—our noses bumped—he made a noise of disgust—I kind of did this whimper thing—we stared at each other.

And in an instant, the little Disney moment (ha! like Disney would ever tell _our_ story) I had dreamt up was like a carpet that had been yanked out from under my feet. As soon as it was removed, I went plunging down into that deep, dark hole under the carpet. The hole that I'd dug deeper and deeper with each time I moved closer to that _Desmond_.

Shit, I can't even imagine what my face must have looked like. But I sure know what_ his_ looked like. Fear. There was fear and horror and sheer embarrassment written _all _over him.

It sunk in. It sunk in for a _while_. Then finally he spoke, his voice dry and hoarse. "I think it would be better if we were just friends."

"What?" I asked softly—my voice was no where to be found.

"Friends," he laughed. I laughed too, just because there was nothing else to do but be uncomfortable. "That's what I was saying all along. Just friends."

"Right." My voice was doing all sorts of funny things during this conversation. This time it was nearly three pitches too high. I coughed to get my voice to go back. "Friends."

Talk about mixed signals—he then looked at me with the most adorable glance! It was like he wanted so badly to embrace me, but instead his just _stood_ there. I couldn't take the confusion anymore. I placed my head in my hands.

And suddenly I felt Des' hands pull mine from my face. But I couldn't even look at him. It would have been absolutely genius of he had kissed me just then. But of course, this is Desmond we're talking about. So he just stood there.

"I don't want you to feel bad," he said. "I… I was going to ask you. Would you like to move in with me?"

Now I had to look up. The feeling was kind of a mixture of thrill and annoyance—what was this guy trying to tell me?

"Move in?"

"All you have is that tiny space. I've got a tent. I just figured—"

"Yes," I smiled.

And that's the end of that. He let go of my hands, I hurried to grab my luggage and then I made my way over to his tent. And that was where I _started_ this story.

Moving in with Desmond. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I just know that despite all of the mistakes I made, Des still liked me enough to invite me to stay with him. And that says something.

* * *

_The first kiss! I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short and I'm sorry that it seems ESPECIALLY short because half of Ewan's writing is his little sidenotes about what he thinks of people. But, I already pretty much have the next chapter finished and trust me, it'll be HILARIOUS. I'll probably put it on tomorrow._

_So what's with Aaron in Lost? How do you guys think he got back to the real world? And why is Jack not wanting to see him? Did Jack kill Claire? Dun dun dun. Or did Jack tell Claire that she couldn't go on the helicopter? Did Claire sneek Aaron on the helicopter? Is Aaron really Boone in diguise??? Haha! Let me know what you guys think._

_I forgot to write last time that Vampire Weekend is a really good band. If you ever have a chance to listen to them try the songs M79 and A-Punk. They're like Brit Pop with a little African flare. Very interesting._

_Hope you liked the chapter! The next one is written by Hurley!_

_-Got Scots?_


	14. The Exclusive Party

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Fourteen_

**Hurley**

So during this one rehearsal, I come up with this awesome idea to have a party. It seems like it's a good idea, especially since everyone's been acting a little stressed lately. How can you be stressed when you're pretty much vacationing on a deserted island? Hey, it happens.

The best part is: the party is exclusive. Band members and their chosen guest _only_. As I figured, Charlie picked Claire. Ewan picked Desmond. And Rose offered to bring Sawyer because we know he's stashing all of the drinks. As you can already tell, there was only uno problemo. I couldn't think of anybody!

It's not like I'm friendless, it just that all of my friends were already invited. So yeah.

My Quest to Find a Guest: Basically I ask everybody on the island and they are all a little weirded out by me. Either that or they (Jack) can't bear to leave their significant _other _(no pun intended).

Eventually, I start getting around to the people I never even talk to. You know, the ones that kind of stay in the background and don't talk much? Even _those _guys don't want to go to an exclusive band party! Come on!

Then, all of the sudden, I'm heading down the beach and I realise there's one person I missed. "Jin!" I practically scream his name out.

He looks up from his fishing and sees me running down the beach. He has this hilarious look on his face. "Kwokosujahed" —he says something in Korean.

"Dude, wanna come to a party?"

Dharma Intuitive Boxed Dinner for Eight: three dollars. Eight beach towels and a fire: ten dollars. Jin making his "I don't speak English face": priceless.

"Party," I explain by miming drinks and food. He doesn't get it, so I start dancing.

"Oh," he says. "Party," he repeats.

"Yeah, a party, man. Wanna come?"

He nods his head yes in a very Jin-like way and instantly my problem is solved.

At sunset, the party starts. All of the guests arrive with some sort of food or drink. Charlie and Claire—peanut butter crackers. Ewan and Desmond—fruit salad (oh, and remind me later why I was about to write "no pun intended" here too). Rose and Sawyer brought the whiskey and beer and Jin and I brought sushi. Well, Jin brought the sushi. I just made the plate look nice.

I don't have time to give a full report on the party (just about to go to rehearsal), but I will highlight the two most important parts.

PART A. The fruit salad pun.

Where to begin? Well, maybe it is because Desmond is completely drunk or maybe it… isnt. But the entire night Ewan is leaning all over Desmond in a way that makes me want to cough up my sushi. There's even a part where I see Ewan hold his hand! Desmond, being his drunk self, slaps his hand away really loudly. And then there's this moment of really awkward silence.

This whole time, Sawyer's sitting to my left and you know Sawyer can't help himself when it comes to things like this. Especially the Sawyer that's had two cans of beer. "Hey, Princess," he says and he's not talking to either of the girls in the circle.

Ewan looks up at him and he's really pissed off.

"What's going on between you and Braveheart over there?"

"Huh?" Ewan asks and we can all see him slowly edging away from Desmond, hoping that none of us will notice he was just leaning on his shoulder.

"I'm just sayin'," Sawyer shrugs. "It's kind of hard to enjoy the party when I keep hearing your girly little voice all flirting and giggling over there."

Rose laughs at this and adds, "Looks like our Drama Boy's got a crush."

By now, Charlie and Claire have stopped having their little conversation in the corner and we are all basically tuning in to what Sawyer is saying.

Ewan leans toward Sawyer as if this conversation is only between the two of them. But Sawyer and Rose are sitting across the circle from him, so it's kind of hard not to hear. "I have no bloody idea what you're talking about, but there is nothing going on between Desmond and I."

"Hmm," Sawyer makes a confused face. "That's funny 'cause I saw you two sleepin' all close together last night."

"What?" Ewan seriously looks like he's going to bite Sawyer's head off.

"That little Odd Couple tent you got goin' on."

"We share a tent. So what?" Ewan is pretty much going to explode.

I look back and Desmond's hiding his face from everybody. "Look, uh," he says as he awkwardly stands up. "Thanks for inviting me." We still can't really see what his face looks like. "I think I'm gonna head back." And so he does. It's kind of like a walk of shame because none of us really know what to say. But Ewan's leaning closer across the circle and glaring at Sawyer.

"Do you see what you've bloody done?" he stands up and makes a dramatic sigh.

Sawyer stands up too and turns away to get himself another beer. And suddenly Ewan's behind him, turning Sawyer toward him by the shoulder. "Why the hell did you have to make a scene about that?"

"I just asked a question. _You_ made the scene, Drama Boy," he said as he glanced over at Rose and the two of them laughed.

"Shut up!" Ewan cried and pushed Sawyer away from him. Before Sawyer could do anything else, he stomped off in the direction Desmond had left. Weird.

PART B. Fatso. :(

After a little while, Jack comes over to the party. I'm giving him a weird look because he pretty much turned down my invitation. He makes his way over and says, "Hey, Hurley?"

"Yeah?" I ask. Everyone looks at Jack, wondering what he's doing here.

Jack goes, "Just curious as to why Juliet saw you raid the food tent and take one box of rice, two cans of vegatables and enough water to feed--"

"A party of eight?" I ask. I really don't mean for it to sound as rude as it does, but Jack was firing this accusation at me from nowhere. "I got those things for the party tonight, man," I say, kind of angry that Jack was quick to assume I was eating all of that food by myself.

"Oh," Jack is kind of stunned. I think he was expecting to win. "Sorry about that, Hurley."

"No problem, man."

But it really kind of is a problem. We're running low on food supply, and everyone is constantly blaming it on me. They may not say it out loud, but everytime I walk away from the tent with a bowl of cereal and a banana, I get these evil glares. What do they want me to do? Stop eating?

* * *

_Sorry to freak out those of you who haven't read chapter thirteen yet. I know I updated these two chapters pretty quickly, but I couldn't prolong posting the Hurley one any longer! I finished writing it yesterday and actually laughed out loud at some of my own writing (embarrassing, I know) so I had to post it ASAP._

_Hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think of the storyline so far. I'm trying not to make it too... overly dramatic. But it's kind of fun. :D_

_I hope Desmond's alright in next week's episode of Lost! He looked like he was in trouble! If something happened to my Des I would be so sad._

_Oh and by the way, everyone. I have a new obsession and that obsession is: Daniel Farraday!! I love that man!_

_-Got Scots?_


	15. Just Friends

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Fifteen_

**Desmond**

The island becomes a completely different place once you actually become involved. Who would have guessed that _I_ would be the type to keep myself updated on the gossip of the island—who's with who, who _wants_ to be with who and the like. But things like this are proving to be highly entertaining, especially when there's nothing else to do.

My main source for information like this is Ewan's friend, Rose. The two of us will go for a walk once in a while and catch each other up on the Sawyer/Kate/Jack situation and many other little bits of gossip. It's actually quite fun, but I would never let anybody know about our little walks. Every once in a while I'll get this feeling that Rose doesn't really like gossiping with me, but it doesn't bother me so much. How could I possibly stop my walks with Rose? She knows everything there is to know about the island!

Because I've become better friends with both Rose and Ewan, the band has begun to allow me to attend their rehearsals. I have to admit, I can't stand going to them. Everyone around me is playing music—Hurley on drums, Charlie on guitar and Rose and Ewan on vocals—and all I do is sit there. Nothing to do. Once in a while, I will critique them, but Ewan says that he doesn't like that. So I've stopped.

I'm also included in exclusive, band-members-only events. For example, the day that Hurley planned a dinner party and the day that we all went swimming at sunrise.

You see, it was originally Charlie's idea to stay up and watch the sun rise—it was already far past midnight—but then Ewan had to suggest that we go swimming. To say the least, I wasn't too thrilled. My last experience in the water involved me accidentally washing up on this island. Not the kind of memories you want to look back on.

I remember that morning perfectly. Everyone had stripped down to their underwear (embarrassing enough, right?) and gotten in. I, however, was still standing on the sand.

"Oh, come on, Desmond!" Ewan cried. He had kindly stayed behind with me while the others all raced in (Charlie collapsing flat on his face on the way).

"Not a chance, brotha!" I called, as I laughed at how bloody freezing we were. Both of us had our arms folded and were hunched over as if this would somehow stop the wind from getting to us. "You go ahead."

Ewan shook his head and stomped back out, water kicking up around him as he did. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in so that I was up to my knees. "We won't go too far out," he pleaded.

I just laughed at him.

He was still holding on to my arm and tugged on it harder to get his point across. "Don't you wanna have fun? You don't want to sit out by yourself, do you?"

"No."

And with that he dragged me out to where everyone else was. As we arrived, he finally let go of my arm and began silently making his way over to Rose who was splashing Charlie to death. I accidentally laughed out loud as Ewan gave Charlie a "shh" sign. Then, as best he could, he dunked Rose's head underwater.

She emerged, half laughing, half cursing at Ewan and shoved him under water as quickly as she could. Hurley swam over to where I was, chuckling all the way.

Then, Ewan came back up, taking a huge gulp of air. Of course, he milked as much drama from the situation as possible—blinking his eyes, breathing frantically, but laughing all the while. "Rose!" he cried.

"Hey," Charlie interrupted. "Anyone know how to do that body surfing thing?"

Rose tried to wring out the t-shirt she had on and cried, "Oh, me!"

"Yeah right," Ewan scoffed.

Rose just glared at him. Charlie turned around and began watching the waves, ready to alert them when ever a good one came up.

"Anything you can do, I can do better! I can do anything better than you," Ewan began singing. He watched Rose dramatically to see if she would sing back.

"I simply refuse to sing anything of that nature," Rose replied in an English accent.

"Oh, shut up," Ewan snickered and slapped her on the shoulder.

"Good wave! Good wave!" Charlie cried and pointed to one in the distance.

Ewan, Rose and Charlie marked their positions and Ewan screamed go when the wave came up behind them.

Rose ended up winning the first one, but the "wave races" didn't stop until Ewan had finally gotten more wins than both Rose and Charlie. By that time, my hands and feet had already begun to wrinkle up.

* * *

It was a great end to a great night. Everyone laughing and cheering and of course, singing. At about breakfast time, Ewan and I headed back to our tent. "That was fun," Ewan smiled at me as we arrived back on the beach. 

People on the island had just started moving about. As we headed back, I saw every pair of eyes stop and stare at us. The feeling of being watched by everyone gave me a little chill.

It was no wonder. I looked over at Ewan to see that he was wearing much-too-tight-briefs. He had been wearing them the entire time we were swimming, but now that we were actually walking back to _our_ tent _together_… no wonder Sawyer had asked about the two of us at the party.

Not to stereotype, but Ewan was looking just about as gay as you can be. Did I mention the colour of the briefs was a saturated, attention-attracting blue? I was just about ready to die of embarrassment. Why hadn't Ewan worn an extra large t-shirt over everything like Hurley and me? Or at _least_ boxers like Charlie.

"Don't you think?" Ewan asked. I stared up at him with a completely clueless look. He was smiling, undoubtedly aware that I had been staring at his briefs for a good, long ten seconds. Just another misleading clue for him to try and follow.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm glad you and the band let me… come along for stuff like that."

"How could we not?" he shot me his most charming smile.

'Oh God,' I thought. 'He thinks I like him again.'

Not that there's anything wrong with Ewan. He's a great person. He's fun to be around. I care about him and everything, I'm just not so sure I'm_ attracted_ to him.

Ewan lead the way into our shared tent and I prayed—_prayed_—that he would put some bloody trousers on.

He began rummaging through his luggage and commented, "Tomorrow night the band's singing 'Come Together' by the Beatles. Did you say you liked that song?"

"Mmhmm."

"And then 'New Slang' by the Shins. And then 'Fluorescent Adolescent' by Arctic Monkeys."

"Sounds great, brotha," I replied, although I didn't really know who the last two were.

He pulled out his pyjamas from his luggage (really a pair of sweatpants from Jack) and began undressing as he asked, "You don't mind if I get changed here, do you?" If I wanted to reply, it wouldn't have made any difference. I darted my eyes away as fast as I could. 'No wonder there are rumours about the two of us!' I wanted to scream. Desperately I tried to find an excuse to leave the tent.

"Look, I've gotta—" I began.

"I'm going to take a nap," he interrupted. "You should too. You've got a performance to attend tomorrow."

I had just about had it with him. Of course I was not going to take a nap with him! I grabbed my blue shirt and jeans and hurried out of the tent before he could say anything. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I did not want to be seen anywhere near him.

"Desmond?" he popped his head out of the tent as if he didn't know why I was leaving in such a hurry. "Desmond?" he asked.

I turned around and glared at him. "Take your nap, Ewan. I'll be back later."

"But… I…" he actually looked _hurt_. I can't believe him! How many times do I have to say the words 'just friends' for it to finally register in his head?

* * *

_Sorry this isn't the best chapter on the face of the earth. And it's not as in character as I wanted it to be, but at least it explains Desmond's POV!_

_Lost this week? ARE. YOU. SERIOUS. Don't even get me started. Probably the best episode of Lost that I have ever seen. My two favourite characters in the entire world using up all of the screen time (minus two scenes with Jack)? Desmond with handsome short hair? Daniel Farraday with crazy long hair? (That happened to be tied up the same way as mine.)_

_I had a theory that maybe the island was used by either Ben or Jacob as a time travelling device. But someone on the Lost message boards is picking apart my theory and it doesn't really make sense anymore. So I won't take the time to explain it._

_What about that phone call with Penny? The writers did such an amazing job with that scene. The way that they had to cram in their sentances at the end and said 'I love you' at the same time--it was just so adorable! It almost made me want to take my Des/Ewan pairing and throw it in the trash! (But then I remember how cute they are together and decided not to.) Anyways, what did you guys think of the episode? And what do you think of the story so far? Let me know if you'd like to see more/less of anything because I really will take it in to consideration when I'm writing._

_Auf Wiedersen!_

_-Got Scots?_


	16. 5

_Before you read, I do apologise. I don't know what is going on with my computer, but for some reason whenever a character is speaking and is cut off using a dash, the text just reads: 'quot'. So, just imagine there is a dash and a quote there for now. Sorry, but I really wanted to get this chapter up (I know it's been a while) and I just haven't been able to fix this issue.._

* * *

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Sixteen_

**Charlie**

Think of all the bands you know. There are a lot of bands that have four members. As a matter of fact, I think it would be safe to say that most bands have four members. A few have three. But generally, in the world of bands, four is a perfect number.

So you can see why I was confused when Ewan told me we desperately needed a fifth member in our band.

"Yeah," he added. "The band is totally missing that.. that special something."

"Special.. something..quot; I asked skeptically.

"Yeah, you know.. a piano player?"

I was really beginning to question his sanity. "And where are we going to get a bloody piano?" I laughed at him.

"Well.. maybe.. if we can find another guitar, someone--quot;

"There aren't any other guitars, Ewan," I interrupted. I had no idea where he was going with this, but I had to stop him before he suggested we get ourselves a bagpipe player too. "What exactly are you trying to tell me?" I asked him as I folded my arms. "Who wants to be in our band?"

"I'm just saying..quot; he tried to shrug nonchalantly, but this issue was obviously not very nonchalant to _him_. "Desmond's really good at playing--quot;

"Are you serious?" I laughed at him. All he could do was look at me as if to say, 'yes, I'm completely serious.' I laughed again. "Look, Rose and Hurley will be back soon. Why don't we uh.. take a vote?"

This made him even more unhappy. He sat down on the sand and pouted. He sat there with his arms crossed, face frowning until Rose and Hurley returned with four water bottles and a box of cereal.

"They're back," I announced to Ewan, but he didn't move.

I grabbed a water bottle from Hurley and said to both him and Rose, "Got a question for you two."

"Yeah?" Rose asked as she reached in to the cereal.

By now, Ewan had sighed spitefully, stood up, and joint us.

"How would you feel about having a uh.. a fifth member in our band?" I winced as I said this because I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

There was a pause. Hurley's mass of curly hair bobbed up and down as he nodded his head in consideration. "Depends who it is, you know?" Hurley said.

"Uh, wanna go ahead mate?" I motioned to Ewan.

He shoved his hands in his jean pockets and spoke to the sand. "Well, you see, I was talking with Desmond and he's a--quot;

"No! No! No!" Rose laughed. She still had cereal in her mouth andit wasn't a pretty picture. "Desmond?" she asked. "He's such a creep--quot;

"Stop, Rose," Ewan said firmly. "I didn't ask your opinion on him. I asked if you wanted him in the band."

Rose stared at him gravely. "No. Not on my life. No. Never. No."

Ewan glanced around helplessly at the rest of the group. I looked away. I think I saw Hurley chuckling at the ground and Rose was still giving Ewan the same dead-pan stare.

She said, "Okay, first question. What would he _do_? Huh? It's not like we have any extra guitars lying around here--quot;

"No, but--quot;

"Second question. What the hell is going on between you two?"

We watched as Ewan's eyes darted to the ground and his face flushed pink. All of us had our eyes on him, since this was the talk of the island. Everyone had a different story, a different rumour that explained what was going on.

"We uh..quot; he scratched his head nervously. "We're friends? Is that the answer you're looking for?"

There was a long disapointed silence shared among the rest of us. Then Rose put her hands on her hips. "Okay, sure. So why does your 'friend' deserve to be in our band?"

"Well I--he--I've just been noticing things. He doesn't feel like he's a part of anything."

"Aww," Rose mimicked Ewan's expression perfectly. "Pity. Becuase he's _not_ joining this band. No matter how many puppy faces you make."

"Dude, give the guy a chance." Hurley went and stood between Ewan and Rose, physically seperating them. I watched with interest. He shrugged, "Why don't we give him an audition just like everyone else?"

"Brill, mate," I stepped in and patted Hurley on the shoulder, seperating Ewan and Rose even further. "Where is he?" I asked Ewan. "He can audition right now."

"Uh, no." Ewan looked mortified.

"What do you mean?" Rose actually stepped around the barrier that Hurley and I had created. It was actually funny to see her stand next to Ewan threateningly. She was practically a whole foot shorter than him. "You mean you didn't tell him that you were going to try and get him in the band?"

"Not exactly..quot; Ewan looked back at me sheepishly. His way of apologising, I guess.

"Alright, lover boy," Rose snickered. "You go home to your little sweetie and you ask him--quot;

"Shut up!" Ewan snapped at her.

"What?" Rose made a puppy face at him. "You don't like me talking about your _man_ that way? Your _sweetheart_?"

"Shut up!" Ewan screamed and shoved Rose back so that she stumbled over her feet.

"Whoa, Drama Boy," she laughed. "Could you try taking things lightly for once?"

"Stop making fun of me!" Ewan screamed. By now, a few curious heads had popped out of their respected tents. Ewan shoved Rose again and this time, she shoved him back. "Just because _you're _insecure about the fact that--ow!"

Both Hurley and I kind of backed away. "Did that seriously just happen?" I asked Hurley on the side. "Did she seriously just punch him in the face?" Hurley nodded to confirm that Rose had infact punched him.

And Rose didn't stop. There was more punching and kicking (and even a slap) until both of them were down on the sand, wrestling their little hearts out. Notice how Hurley and I didn't move.

"Get off of me!" Ewan cried as he shoved Rose away and kicked her three times in the shin. Yeah, it was that intense. But this time, Ewan had gone too far. You never, ever, ever, under any circumstances kick a girl in the shin. Even Rose.

"Dude. Dude, stop," Hurley stepped into intervene, but Ewan kicked his leg too. "Not cool, man," Hurley said as he backed off.

Ewan shoved Rose again and in return, she socked him in the nose. By now, a crowd had gathered. I realised how stupid Hurley and I must have looked.

From the crowd emerged Jack, our heroic doctor. He pushed past the people in his way and flew in to the middle of the fight. As quickly as he could, he pulled Rose away from Ewan's excessive.. girly.. slapping. "Stop," Jack said in his deep, hero voice. Silence.

The crowd started to clear away with frowns of disappointment. What were they expecting? A battle to the death? As the crowd continued to clear, Desmond came hurrying up to Jack who had switched from rescuing Rose to consoling Ewan. Like I said, very heroic guy.

Desmond looked panicked as he spoke curtly with Jack. I stepped forward curiously, trying to eavesdrop in on the conversation.

"What happened to him, brotha?" Desmond asked. Apparantly Ewan was too traumatised to answer for himself. He was desperately clutching the side of his stomach that Rose had punched several times.

Jack knelt down by Ewan and patted him on the shoulder. Ewan was trying his best to stop the tears running down his face--especially in front of Desmond. Jack frowned and looked up at Des. "He and Rose. They got ina fight."

"A fight?" this caused Des to kneel down so that he was on the same level as Jack and Ewan. "You alright, brotha?" Desmond awkwardly rested his hand on Ewan's arm, moving his thumb back and forth soothingly. I looked back at Rose to see if she was getting this, but she was too busy complaining about Ewan to Hurley.

Jack stood up. He was probably beginning to get the feeling that he wasn't needed there. "You can take care of him?" Jack asked just to make sure. Desmond nodded and Jack quickly stood and headed back to his tent. Desmond took Jack's old position, resting his arm behind Ewan's back.

I shuffled back to where Rose was standing, her arms crossed, her eyes furious. "Hey, you okay?" I asked her.

"Of _course_ I'm okay," Rose snapped. "Did you _see_ the way he was attempting to fight me?" She glanced at me and Hurley and that's all she had to do to get her point across.

I looked over at Ewan, who was still being a baby about the whole thing. Rose saw me glancing over at him and commented, "He's such a wuss." Neither Hurley nor I saw any need to defend him. "This is the last straw," Rose declared. "That Drama Boy's got it coming for him."

* * *

_So what did you think of this chapter? Ewan getting beat up.. by Rose? :) It was actually my friend's idea to have Ewan try and get Desmond on the band so.. good job Shelby! :)_

_And what was with the latest episode of Lost? What the heck?! You CAN'T and you WON'T kill off Karl with a K._

_Anyways, Happy Spring!_

_-Got Scots?_


	17. Payback Major Payback

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Seventeen_

**Rose**

_'Payback. Major payback. You don't just pick a fight with me and expect to get away with it. Oh, no. You get payback.'_

I was walking over to Ewan's shared tent as I thought these words. It had been a couple of hours since the fight and I'd just seen Ewan head off towards the little thing full of water that we had in the middle of out camp. _Perfect._ I jogged towards the tent and peeled back the tarp curtain as quickly as I could. I gasped as my eyes met with a giant, Scottish ass.

"What the—" I began, but stopped when Desmond turned around.

"Huh?" he asked as his embarrassed face turned to meet me. Thank God, I was no longer staring at his ass. "Huh? Oh. Sorry. I was looking for something—" he began to explain as he motioned towards his luggage.

"Lovely," I said sarcastically. Very sarcastically.

Desmond's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here, sista?"

"Uh… like… nothing," I shrugged.

The creeper seemed to find this very hard to believe. He just stared at me with his stalker-like eyes, waiting for more of an answer.

"I was hoping to find Ewan," I lied.

"Oh," Desmond said. "To apologise?"

"No," I laughed. "Not on my life! If anyone's going to apologise it's going to be him."

Desmond chuckled. "I think that's exactly what _he _said to _me _five minutes ago."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Never mind," I said. I didn't want to hear any more of his weird observations. "I'm gonna leave."

"Wait." Desmond half stood up. When I didn't move, he went back to his sitting position. "What did you come here for?"

"To talk to your little boyfriend," I smirked. There was this strange look that came over Desmond's face. It was an emotion somewhere between upset and ashamed. What ever it was, it made me stop. I had to admit, he looked pretty hurt. "Look," I said before I headed out. "Just let Ewan know that if he keeps this _nonsense _up, I'm _going_ to find a way to kick him out of the band."

And with that, I left.

* * *

"What do you mean, nonsense?" Ewan practically screamed from halfway down the beach. I watched with laughter as he emerged from his tent in a rage, flying down the beach. He was heading right towards where I was sitting on a towel, waiting for this moment.

The next thing I knew, he was standing over me, anger radiating from his bright red face. "Kick me out of the band?" he asked in the high-pitched voice that usually came out of his mouth when he was being accused of something.

"Yes," I smirked. It was freakin' hilarious to see him flipping out.

"You can't _do_ that!" he continued on in his ridiculous high pitched voice. "I_ am_ the band! I'm the bloody lead singer!"

"Not if you keep beating up other band members, failing to agree on songs, being difficult when—"

"I get it!" he cried.

The two of us looked away for a second. _He_ was probably thinking up his next line, while _I_ was scheming how to get this guy even angrier. Maybe if I could piss him off enough, he would eventually leave the band on his own.

He spoke first. His eyes looked down on mine and with the sun behind him and it gave him this kind of eerie, kind of evil glow. "You realise this means war, right?" he asked, his voice finally getting lower.

"War?" I asked.

"I will fight you to the death if you try and kick me out."

"With what?"

"Tricks and… stuff…" He was clearly at a loss.

"What are you going to do, put saran wrap over my toilet?" I laughed.

Ewan sighed. "Not those kinds of tricks!" There goes the voice again.

"Fine," I shrugged. "Use your tricks or whatever. I'll just present my case to Charlie and Hurley and all will be well."

"Case, eh?" Ewan schemed. "Well I'll present a bloody case as well."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

He stormed off, leaving me alone with the plotting of my case.

* * *

Naturally, a band meeting was called. I imagine the four of us must have looked somewhat important, sitting on rocks and discussing things because the people that walked by kept looking at us. It was nice to feel important, especially when I was about to present the case I had worked oh-so-hard on. "The meeting is now in session," I announced as the last member finally took his seat.

"I don't understand what this meeting is about," Charlie said as he sat down. "I mean we already picked our songs for tonight, didn't we?"

All I did was glare at Ewan. He snarled at me.

"Rose thinks she can kick me out of the band," he sneered.

"What?" Charlie stared at me.

Hurley scratched his head and looked over at Ewan who must have still been making his fake smirk. Behind that smirk, I sensed he was extremely afraid of losing his position in the band. "Well," I explained. "I just don't think it's necessary to deal with all the extra fuss and nonsense that our little Drama Boy brings to the table when we have another perfectly good singer sitting right here."

"And who's that?" Ewan sounded like I had just offended his mother or something.

"Me," I beamed.

"You're thinking of replacing me with you?" For some reason, this didn't calculate in Ewan's tiny brain.

"All I'm saying," I addressed Hurley and Charlie. "Is that it would be a much better and not to mention, drama-free, choice."

"What?!" Ewan nearly exploded. He actually jumped off of his rock and stood. See? I told you this guy was full of the dramatics. This obviously wasn't what he was expecting. "You can't be serious! You don't have half of the singing talent I have!"

"All you sing is Broadway _crap_!" I argued back.

"Dude, calm down," Hurley said loudly. Both of us stared at him. We were so absorbed in our little argument I guess we had forgotten about Hurley and Charlie. After a little while, Hurley asked, "Isn't the band just fine the way it is?"

"No, definitely not," I argued. "I refuse to be in a band where I get… where people _attempt_ to beat me up just because—I don't even remember the _reason_ anymore!"

"It's not fair," Ewan whined. "She's holding one event against me! Could we please take some time to think back on all the wonderful things I've done for the band?"

There was an awkward silence until I interjected, "I think I hear crickets chirping."

This just made Ewan furious. "You just—I have a new proposal. Rose is out of the band. Don't you see? She's the one that's causing all this drama! If she would just cooperate with me—"

"Look, mate," Charlie matched Ewan's tone so that he could be heard. Ewan shook his head and sat back down on his rock. Charlie looked down the beach at the tents around us and noticed that we were once again causing more commotion than necessary. "We're not going to be kicking anybody out."

I had to laugh at this. Were they so stupid that they couldn't see all Ewan was doing was bringing us into his crazy world of overdramatic _shit_? I was so tired of it. "You can't be serious." I was still laughing. "I refuse to be anywhere near him and he refuses to be anywhere near me. One of us has to go."

I tried to look over at Ewan, but he was looking the other way. I had expected some sort of comment from him, but he stayed silent.

"Okay… we'll take a vote…" Charlie said, but he obviously didn't want to take one.

"Rose," Ewan turned back to look at me. I could tell he was pretty upset by the whole thing, but at least he wasn't crying. Yet.

"What?" I was beginning to get extremely annoyed with him.

"Let's just not kick anyone out, okay? Why can't we just… you know, deal with each other? It would be better for the band."

"I like that idea," Charlie nodded.

Hurley nodded too.

I glanced around at the band, frustrated. Couldn't anyone else see how dysfunctional we were? When we got together to choose a song, it took us hours. And even after those hours, we still hadn't come to a complete agreement. And when we played every other night, Ewan was always hogging the stage. I mean, sure, the people loved it, but I can't say the rest of the band loves standing in the shadow of _Ewan_. I was so angry about all this that before Charlie could announce that the meeting was closed or anything like that, I stood up and left. I'll show them. Somehow I'll get them on my side, I know I will.

* * *

_So, this story is my gift to you all while Lost is away! I was so sad this Thursday when I had nothing to do! And no Desmond to look at! I hope you are enjoying the story and seriously, if you're bored of all the drama like Rose or if you want to see more of something and less of something else, let me know._

_Peace out, dudes!_

_-Got Scots?_


	18. Friends or More Than Friends

_Author's Note: Hello! I just wanted to let everyone know that I greatly appreciate everyone who reads the story, especially those of you who take the time to review! Thank you very much for giving all the feedback that you do and for helping me write better. After all, that's what fanfiction is all about, yeah? A community for writers! So thanks once again, I really appreciate you kiddles. :D_

* * *

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Eighteen_

**Ewan**

Usually it takes me a while to gather my thoughts before I enter them in to my diary. I think about all the things that have happened since the last time I wrote. I evaluate each one of them and figure out which one is the one that will make the best story. I write about this event like the narrator of my own life story. I try to remember every detail and every word and I record it all down.

Since I've last written, a lot of dramatic things have happened. Rose has tried to kick me out of the band. Sawyer has announced to the island (through gossip) that Desmond and I are officially lovers. And the survivors (us) have gotten in quite a few arguments with "the Others".

Now normally, I would sift through my memories of these events slowly and choose the most dramatic one. Then I would write about it, playing up every little detail to make my life seem like the soap opera I sometimes imagine it to be. But instead of doing all that today, I think I'm going to go with an event much simpler.

Imagine this. I'm walking through the woods for no reason except to sing to myself without anyone else hearing. I'm going through a list of my favourite show tunes when all of the sudden I hear a voice battle mine.

The voice isn't talking. No, it's crying. Immediately the happiness of the song I was singing washes out of me like how my skin washes out under stage lights. I sneak towards the voice all James-Bond-like, brushing leaves out of my vision and stepping stealthily over twigs. I listen carefully to the sound and follow it until I finally reach a clearing in the jungle.

In the middle of this clearing is a large tree trunk that has probably fallen over due to the polar bears. On this tree trunk is a hunched-over body that I instantly recognise. I can't believe it at first, the sight of this strong body hunched over so weakly. As I get closer, my sympathy grows.

He's so into whatever he's thinking that he doesn't even hear me sneak up behind him. Without thinking, I wrap my arm around his shoulder and sit down next to him—something I've been told plenty of times not to do.

Desmond jumps at first, surprised to see me, I guess. Then his face floods with the embarrassment of being caught in such a vulnerable emotional state.

I swear to you, I'm still not thinking my actions over before they happen. I do another thing I've been told not to do. I lean over and kiss him on the cheek.

This time he doesn't scold me because he knows that if he does, the words won't come out right. His voice is too weak from the tears.

Because I know he won't do it himself, I take my hand and I push his head down slowly so that it's soon laying on my shoulder. I hope that he doesn't lift his head back up.

Looking down at his hands, I see that he's holding a photograph of him and his girlfriend. It's the kind of possession that he'll carry everywhere with him. Normally when I see him looking at it, I get really jealous. Or angry. Or hurt. But this time, I only feel sorry for him. I try really hard to think of the right thing to say. I know that if I think about it hard enough, I'll be able to find a way to talk about his girlfriend as if the two of us were just friends. I know he would like that.

I try my best to get in the mindset of "just friends". Slowly, I ask him, "Do you miss her?"

It's an obvious answer, but still, he feels the need to shake his head yes.

"Are you worried she'll have forgotten you?"

He sniffs in the last of his tears and replies in a shaky voice, "Yes."

I can't help it. I can't just be friends around him no matter how hard I try. And since I know he won't be scolding me, I kiss his hair and rest my head on top of his. "I miss a lot of people too. But sometimes when you think about it, life is better here. I mean, at first I was upset about being cut off from the world. But now I think I like it."

Desmond thinks about this for a little bit.

"Even the little things," I say. "No taxes. No bills. No watching the news that really only depresses people. No having to keep up with the latest styles—not that you did that anyway."

He laughs.

I continue because I know he doesn't want to talk right now. "No phone calls. No business meetings. No money. That's a big one. No money."

"No people," Desmond croaks. "I miss her so much."

I get a little jealous here, but then I remember the other people I miss and how Desmond could be jealous of them. "It must be scary. Just being here. Wondering."

Des nods. "Sometimes I wonder if she'll remember me. If she's moved on. If she remembers me, but she doesn't want anything to do with me. If she's still alive."

Now he's got me sad. I can feel tears coming to my eyes and I bite my lip. "There's no need to think that way. Didn't you once say that you thought she was looking for you?"

"She might be."

"See?" I say, but my voice is beginning to sound croaky like his. "You've got me sad," I complain.

He laughs again and surprisingly scoots closer to me. I rub my hand up and down his arm hoping this will make him feel better, not awkward.

Suddenly I remember why Desmond is so upset. Once he and I stayed up all night telling each other basically about our lives. To be honest, it was more me talking than him, but when he did talk I remembered the one thing that was so different about us. Anytime he told me about an event that had happened in his life, he always looked upon it badly. He looked at himself as a failure. A coward. 'No wonder,' I thought to myself. 'He must think he's a failure for being here too.'

"It's not like this is in your control," I say and I know I have won him over. He has to feel better after I say this. "You didn't have an option or a choice. This just happened to you. It's not your fault."

He actually looks up at me and I have to get my head off of his in the most awkward way ever. When he looks at me, it's as if he's trying to read me. I'm thrilled because the look on his face is one of marvel and awe. As if I had just said the right thing. I smile and he smiles.

If I had no self control whatsoever, this would be a perfect moment for a first kiss. But I know that Desmond really wouldn't want that and would probably hate me for it later, so I just look at the ground, kicking myself for not being able to do anything.

He must sense something is wrong because he sits up and my hand comes off of his shoulder. I put one hand on my forehead and make a sound of disgust. I really don't know if my not kissing him was the right thing to do or not.

Des starts acting awkward again, as if he's embarrassed to be sitting next to me. He's rubbing his hands back and forth on his jeans as if he's trying to get something off of them. It's annoying.

"Des?" I ask him.

He stops being awkward and looks at me. "Hmm?" he asks.

I know what I _wanted_ to say after I got his attention, but for some reason it won't come out of my mouth. "I… I know there's a lot of rumours going around about us. And I—I'm pretty sure that's why you always act uncomfortable around me. And it kind of gets on my nerves." That wasn't what I wanted to say. I wanted to say something more along the lines of "I love you", but I was pretty sure I had to address this issue first.

"How can I not be uncomfortable?" Desmond asks. And for once I'm surprised by how much emotion he has put into his words. It's like we're in a film. It's like I've rubbed off on him or something. "How do people find out these rumours? By watching us."

"Well, I know," I say. "But who cares what they say?"

"You only don't care because… it's different for you. It's…" There's obviously something he wants to ask me, but I can see he's struggling with it. I look away, waiting for him to speak up. "I have a question for you."

"Mmmhmm."

"Before you crashed on the island, well… did you… have relationships with other men?" I wish I had a big stamp that said awkward so I could just stamp it all over his face.

I roll my eyes at him. "I'm bi if that's what you mean," I say effortlessly.

It's funny because he actually looks stunned. "Oh," he says. "Yeah. That's what I mean."

"And you are…?" I raise an eyebrow at him. I know what my dream answer would be, but I also know what the realistic answer will be. I'm prepared for both.

"Uh… I'm… uh…" He scratches his head. "I don't really know," he laughs.

I stare. This wasn't my dream answer _or_ my realistic answer.

"I mean, I've always dated women, but… things are different now and I… I don't really want to talk about it. I really don't."

"I understand," I bluff and I stand up and start walking back to camp. I ask, "Well, would you like to join me for lunch?"

"I… sure." Defeated, he stands up too. He shoves the photo back in his pocket. He follows behind me and releases an overly dramatic sigh.

I look back at him slowly as if to ask, "what the hell was that?" In response to the look, Desmond shrugs embarrassedly. "You sound like _me_," I say and wrinkle my nose. But it's a good wrinkle of disgust. I'm happy because for the first time, Desmond has actually confided something in me. Friends or more than friends, I know that this is worth something.

* * *

_Ewan and Desmond!! I just love those two. So, I know that this chapter isn't what ALL of you requested, but my friend that gave me the idea for last chapter or so asked to see more Des/Ewan. So! Here it is! The next chapter I've already written half of and let me tell you it's pretty... dramatic. Hopefully I'll be able to put that up this weekend. I hope this is as good as watching Lost on Thursdays (haha yeah right!)._

_Happy Friday!_

_-Got Scots?_


	19. Taking it Too Far

Here We Are Now: Entertain Us

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Nineteen_

**Hurley**

Let's keep in mind that it is the middle of the day when I see Ewan sneaking around the camp like he's James Bond. He's making the kind of I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-face that would get him mugged if he were in the city. "Hey, man," I say casually and he jumps.

"Oh, it's you," he says. He has a notebook in his hands which guessing by the floral cover isn't his. Then again, you never know with this guy.

"Dude, please tell me that thing isn't yours," I say as I point down at the notebook.

A smirk lights up his face and he explains in a hushed voice. "No, it's Rose's. It's her diary." He kind of chuckles at this and I just shake my head.

"Uh… why do _you_ have it?" I ask.

He makes his oh-you-idiot face and says, "I'm going to see what kind of stuff she has to say about me. Talk about the ultimate psychological warfare, right?" He actually seems excited about this.

I start walking back towards my tent and he follows, still awaiting my praise. "You know how you're always casting everyone like we're in a movie?" I ask him. He nods, but seems confused by the tangent I've kind of gone off on. "Well, right now," I say, "You would be the villain."

"No, I would not!" he protests. "Rose tried to kick me out of the band." He motions to the floral diary. "This is what she gets."

"How would you like it if she read your diary?" I try.

"I don't have a diary," he argues. Yeah right. I've seen him writing in it before.

"Well if I were you, man. I'd give it back to her. Taking her stuff will only make her even more angry."

"Isn't that the point?" Ewan says simply. He looks at me with a "duh" kind of expression and then heads off to his tent to read all of Rose's secrets.

Ewan's right. It's as if we are in a movie. Rose comes marching up to me almost ten seconds after Ewan leaves as if a stage manager or something told her it was her cue. I stare at her in disbelief. She ties up her hair that's wet from either swimming or showering as she asks, "So how's Drama Boy?"

"Uh… good," I shrug.

"What's he up to now?"

I want to say, "Reading your deepest, darkest secrets." But I know Ewan will probably steal something of _mine_ if I do that. I try to hint at the situation subtly by saying, "You should go ask him yourself."

"In your dreams," Rose responds. Then she adds, "Hey, you wanna help me with something?"

"Depends," I shrug.

"I'm gonna raid Lover Boy's tent. See if I can find anything to use against him. I need you to guard the tent," she says as her eyes light up just like Ewan's did earlier. I almost want to start laughing, but I know it would probably come off as weird.

Instead, I smile. "Use against him in what?"

"Battle," Rose says as if this is an ordinary response. "Haven't you heard we're at war?"

"Sort of…" I trail off on purpose.

"We're going to have to recruit someone to get him out of the tent," Rose schemes as she peers over at the Ewan/Desmond tent. I always joke that they should stick a big Scottish flag on top of it.

"Uh… hey, Jin!" I yell at the top of my lungs. Surprisingly, Jin hears me and hurries down the beach to where Rose and I are standing. He reports to us, ready for duty. "Dude, you wanna do me a big favour?" I ask.

Jin plays the clueless game again.

"Uh…" I point to the Ewan/Desmond tent. "Ask Ewan and Desmond to come visit you and Sun and try your sushi," I say slowly. "Sushi? Ewan? Desmond? Walk? To Tent—?"

"I think he gets it," Rose interjects.

"Ewan and Desmond try my sushi?" Jin asks. I can see all of the English and Korean computing in his head as he says it.

"Yeah," I nod. "Go ask them."

Being the good little Korean that he is, Jin hurries off to the tent and quickly emerges with both Ewan and Desmond. Ewan is pouting more than ever. He must have been on a really good page. It's then that I remember Rose's diary is in Ewan's tent. Oh man! Change of plans! "Hey, maybe we should wait for another time. I mean, I don't think Jin really understood."

"I think he understood fine," Rose says as she runs off to the tent. I'm suddenly getting extremely nervous as I stand outside of the tent and I can hear Rose fumbling around inside. Almost instantly she cries, "My diary?! That little—urgh. What a bastard!"

"He took your diary?" I try and sound surprised.

"Yes!" Rose is very, very annoyed. However, she keeps rummaging through his stuff. About twenty seconds later I hear a squeal.

"Everything alright?" I ask as I scan the area for Ewan or Desmond.

"I can't believe I touched his briefs," Rose said in a long, drawn out, disgusted voice. I had to laugh at her agony. "Gross!" She keeps searching. The next thing I hear is a little laugh. "We're getting to the good stuff," she notes.

"Like what?"

"The kind of stuff that makes me question his manhood," she chuckles.

"Like _what_?" I repeat.

"Tons and tons of hair gel, that face scrubbing stuff to get rid of pimples--but the girl kind…" she trails off and the next thing I hear is a howl of laughter. "Makeup!" she cries as if she has just found gold. "Makeup!"

"Makeup?" I question as I duck in to the tent for a split second.

I can see Rose holding up a bunch of makeupy stuff, almost laughing so hard that she's crying. She names them all through this uncontrollable laughter, "Foundation! Tweezers!? Eyeliner?!"

"I've seen him wear he eyeliner to shows before. I never said anything to him because I didn't want him to know that I knew what it was," I start laughing a long with her.

"Are kidding me?" Rose holds up the stuff and now she _is _crying. "Okay," she tries to calm herself down. "I'm taking these and I'm taking my diary. That way he'll know that a _girl_ has stolen his makeup to put it to the proper use."

She hurries out of the tent and I close the flap on the tent behind her. She's trying to balance the makeup and the diary in her hands. "If I had like a video camera or something, this would _so_ be on youtube," she comments.

I laugh at this and ask, "What are you going to do with the makeup?"

"Oh," she smirks. "I'll make sure that he knows I have it. Like use it in public or something and then he'll have to ask for it back." She looks back at the tent and adds, "Or maybe I'll take back those briefs and hang them from a pole on top of his tent."

"Man, you're good," I shake my head, wondering what Ewan will do to get back at her.

* * *

**Bonus Chapter**

_Chapter 19 ½_

**Ewan**

It's bad enough that someone has stolen my personal possessions from my tent, but tonight the worst thing possible happened. I swear. The worst thing possible.

I'll start off by saying that Rose had a party to which she invited all of the band except me. I don't know what that was about, but right now, I don't really care. Apparently, there were drinks involved and Rose, Charlie and Hurley all got a little too drunk. They found red hair dye in Rose's luggage (she said that she had always wanted to dye her hair bright red). And they were all having fun with it, dying little bits of their hair red to symbolise that they were in the band or something.

But the part that makes me really pissed off and makes me sit out here on the beach late at night by myself is what happened next.

I was sleeping peacefully, okay? I was sleeping and all of the sudden I wake up and I see Charlie and Rose over me and Desmond. Des freaks out and wakes with a start which is probably what wakes me up. "What's going on?" Desmond asks, his eyes wide.

Nothing around me is really that clear except for the faces of Rose and Charlie. Charlie jokes, "We just need to borrow Ewan for a moment." He looks at me. "Come with me," he says.

I look at Desmond worriedly. I really don't have any sense as to what I'm doing or what is going on. For some reason, I get up and follow Charlie outside of the tent. They take me to Rose's tent which is not far away. At Rose's tent I see a bucket of water and a box of red hair dye. Rose starts laughing hysterically. "Hold him down, hold him down!" she cries. Hurley says dude. I don't know what's happening.

Suddenly, I feel Charlie's arm around my neck. It's like he's going to choke me! He pulls me down to the ground and I scream, "What are you doing?" He practically slams my head in to the bucket and it hurts like hell. I can't really grasp what's happening, except I can hear Rose laughing. Hurley's gone silent. They're all so drunk, I honestly wonder if Hurley has passed out.

Charlie suddenly howls with laughter at something Rose has said and dunks my head in the bucket. I have to admit, I'm not proud of the way I reacted, but I was scared as hell. I coughed up water and I screamed until Charlie finally let go of me. He started opening the box of red dye. "What are you doing?" I demanded. I was so upset by the abruptness of the whole situation that I had started crying. "What are you doing?!" I repeated. Nobody answered me.

Rose laughs, "You're going to be an official member of the band when we're done with you!"

I struggle to get out of Charlie's grasp, but he forces me down to the ground. I start crying louder, not because I'm scared, but because I want someone to wake up and come see what is happening. Preferably Jack.

An idea comes to me and I suddenly elbow Charlie in the stomach. His grip loosens on me and I break free. I turn around to him in disbelief and see that he is still clutching his stomach.

"You let him go!" Rose exclaimed.

"Get the hell off of me!" I cried as Charlie grabbed for me again. I swear, I tried to fight him off, but somehow he got a hold of me again and slammed my head against the bucket, completely missing the water and banging my forehead against the rim. It hurts like hell. I get really really pissed off.

Thank God, Desmond comes running out of his tent and so do a few others. Among them is Jack. I let out a sigh of relief, but Charlie doesn't seem to notice the others. He keeps trying to dunk my head in to the water and after two times of hitting the rim, I feel my head submerged in the water. I gasp for breath when I get up and realise that Charlie is off of me. Jack is there. He helps me sit up. He talks to me. I can feel eyes staring at me. I'm still not awake. I want to go back to sleep. I want to find Desmond in the crowd.

I remember Jack asking, "Hey, you alright?"

"No!" I cry. I start sobbing really loudly which probably came off as babyish to the other survivors. Jack went over to Charlie and started scolding him and Rose in a loud voice. He thanks Hurley for coming to get him. The people start to clear away. Jack comes back to where I am sitting up, still crying. I can't believe that I am still crying.

Jack tells me, "You're bleeding. Your forehead is bleeding. Come with me and we'll get you some bandages. Desmond… you wanna help?"

Desmond nods and comes over to where I'm sitting. He looks concerned. I'm terrified. I try to find Charlie or Rose or Hurley as I am carried off by Desmond and Jack. Things have gone too far. Desmond is doing the thing where he puts his arm around my shoulders and helps me walk. I lean my head on him and burry it in to his shoulder. I start crying really loud. He tells Jack to stop. He starts rubbing my back and asks if Jack can bring the bandages to me. Desmond helps me lay down on the sand and tells me I can go to sleep if I want to do.

I must've fallen asleep because when I awoke, Desmond was sitting next to me and I had a bandage on my head. I know I shouldn't have, but I got a bit cross with Desmond for being there. I really just wanted to be by myself. So I went off and wrote this. Things have gone much to far. When Rose and them are sober, we are going to have a serious talk. If there's a way for me to kick both Rose and Charlie out of the band it will happen. I can't write anymore. I'm exhausted. And I owe Des and apology.

* * *

_So we went from a hilarious chapter from Hurley to a dramatic bonus chapter from Ewan. What did you think of that? I only added the bonus chapter in because I wanted this event to happen and I wanted Ewan to write it. But I knew that I wanted him to write it like he was upset, so it wouldn't have been too long of a chapter on it's own. Hope you enjoyed the little dramatic bonus!_

_If any of you watch the Office, aren't you so excited for Micheal's Dinner Party tonight?? I can't wait to see Stanley again!_

_-Got Scots?_


	20. Negotiating

**Here We Are Now: Entertain Us!**

_Chapter Twenty_

**Desmond**

On the rare occasion that I ask Ewan what he's up to, I know not to expect an ordinary answer. Today we were sitting under the shade of our tent and I asked him what he was doing. He had a bunch of papers on his lap and was holding one of the papers about an inch away from his face, squinting into the words like an old man without his glasses. I wondered for a second if he was studying the lyrics for tonight's show—a collection of John Mayer songs.

Instead, he replied, "Reading Shakespearian sonnets."

"Oh," I tried not to laugh. He continued reading. "Don't you have rehearsal soon?" I asked.

"I'm not going," he replied, still more focused on the sonnet than me.

"Why not?" I asked. I was concerned. To say the least, Ewan and the rest of the band haven't been getting along.

He was probably thinking the same thing because all he did was glare at me.

I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes at me. "You should go," I said.

"Nope," Ewan lifted the sonnet up so it was in front of his face.

"Ewan," I reasoned. "If you don't talk to them—if you don't go, how will the band ever know you're upset with them for what they did? I'm sure that they know—"

He angrily began to read the sonnet aloud so that I would stop talking to him. "What's new to speak, what new to register, that may express my love or thy dear merit?"

"Ewan—" I said equally as loud.

"Nothing sweet boy; but yet, like prayers divine, I must, each day—" he said, his voice growing loud enough that I was sure people outside could hear him.

I stood up and interrupted him with a short "alright, then." I walked out of our tent and headed towards Charlie's tent where I could see the band warming up, waiting for their lead singer. Charlie's was the first head to pop up and see me walking over. "Hey, mate," he called as I finally reached their tent.

"Hey," I said. I tried to ignore Rose who was sitting cross legged on the sand and giving me an angry look. Hurley was setting up his drums—a collection of tins and boxes.

"What's up?" Charlie asked.

"I uh…" I paused to gather my thoughts. "Ewan told me he wasn't coming to rehearsal today, brotha. I thought I would let you know so you didn't sit out here waiting for him—"

"What a stuck-up little twat!" Rose exclaimed.

I raised my voice so that my point would be heard—especially by Rose. "It's perfectly understandable why he isn't here," I said. "After last night?" I shook my head. "The four of you really need to have a talk."

"It's his fault that he didn't try and stop us! If he didn't want his hair dyed red, he could have just said so," Rose spat as she turned to face me.

I stared at her in disbelief. Quickly, I glanced to the rest of the band for support, but Charlie and Hurley both seemed too embarrassed to defend Ewan. "Look," I said through clenched teeth. "That was _not_ his fault. You were the ones who decided to get bloody drunk in the first place. You were the ones who decided not to invite him to your party, to wake him up and—"

"Can you honestly blame us for not inviting him?" Rose argued.

My voice became quieter and I leant down a little so that no one else could hear me. I was still bloody angry though, so the tone didn't change. "Look, sista, I know he's not always… the nicest person to be around. But half the reason for that is the way you treat him. Just stop making fun of him, stop picking on him and I can guarantee you he'll be nice to you. If you haven't figured that out already, that's how life works. Treat people the way you wanna be treated? Ever heard of that?"

I'm not sure that my intention was to be that rude to the girl, but the way she was trying to defend herself was pathetic. And some people say I can get quite the temper… Yes, I suppose that's what happened.

She stood up so that she was standing at my level and I tilted my head, curious to hear her argument. "I'm sorry, but I'm not taking advice from that bastard's _boyfriend_," she said.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," I fought. "Ewan and I aren't dating, never have been dating and never _will _be dating. So you have absolutely no reason to call us—"

"Have you seen the way he acts? Have you seen the little hand flick he does—?"

"He does _not_—"

"_Have you seen the makeup in his bag?_" She practically screamed this at me.

"What?" I asked softly and there was an awkward silence. Rose smirked at me, Hurley stared at both of us with wide eyes, and Charlie got out his guitar.

I looked back at Charlie strangely as he began strumming a few chords. Rose turned back to look too and as she did, Charlie began singing. "Please stop arguing guys," he sang to a tune I hardly recognised. "Please stop arguing guys. We need our lead singer. Before… Rose gives Des the middle finger."

Everyone had a laugh at this. I smiled at Charlie and nodded my head. Then I looked over at Rose. We were all still smiling, so I said, "I'll go talk to him. As long as you promise…"

"Promise what? To keep my mouth shut?" Rose asked.

"Well… that. Yeah," I said.

Rose rolled her eyes, but said, "Fine."

Still with a smile, I walked back over to our tent. I felt like the messenger in Greek Mythology, Hermes. He was always running between two places, exchanging messages between the Gods and the mortals.

"Hey, brotha," I said as I reached the tent. To my surprise, Ewan had put down the sonnets and started on taking a nap. I had to chuckle at the awkward position he was curled up in, his head resting on his luggage, his feet poking out of the side of the tent and my windbreaker jacket lying over him for a blanket.

I sat down next to him and shook his shoulder gently until his eyes opened. He obviously hadn't gotten to sleep yet. "Go away," he whined jokingly. He turned so that he was lying on his back and looking up at me.

"I talked to the band," I said and watched as his eyes widened in horror.

"Not about me, I hope," he gulped.

"Yes, about you," I laughed. "Rose agreed to not give you any rude comments or nicknames today, as long as you came to rehearsal."

"What? Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes," I smiled.

He thought about this offer for a minute and then sighed. "I don't wanna go," he said.

I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I ran my fingers through his blonde hair. Then when I remembered our tent was open and anyone could see in, I quickly pulled my hand away. He laughed at me. "What is it?" he asked.

"They want you there," I nodded in the direction of Charlie's tent. "At rehearsal. You know that the show can't go on without you."

"Yes, I'm perfectly aware of that, Desmond," he snarled and raised an eyebrow.

I smiled as he finally sat up. This meant I was getting somewhere. "I know that you don't like them very much, but being in the band is good for you."

"Good for me?" He looked offended. "Since when do you know what's good for me?"

I just looked away. "It gives you something to do, doesn't it? And you always talk about how you love performing."

"Performing being the keyword. I hate going to rehearsal. Especially with _those_ jerks. I wish you could be in the band. Then at least I'd have _someone_ to side with me."

"Well, thanks, brotha," I smiled. It was nice to hear him say something like that. He said it in such a sweet way, too. The way that people talk in movies or books. Then again, Ewan is a walking film buff. He probably _did_ steal that line from a movie. "But performing and stuff," I added, "is definitely not for me."

"I think you'd be wonderful in the band," he stared at me all starry-eyed. Once again, it looked like he was stuck in a film.

"Thanks," I said tersely, getting tired of all this over the top stuff he was doing. I shifted back over to my side of the tent and suggested, "You should probably go, then."

"Yeah," he said glumly. "You'll be at the show tonight, won't you?"

"Of course," I smiled.

"Good," he nodded. "Well uh… see you then?" he asked as he looked at me as if he expected me to have something more important to say than "bye".

"Yeah."

He looked slightly annoyed as he got up and left. I picked my book up off of the floor of the tent and tried to read.

But, I can never read after a conversation with Ewan. There is something about that guy that makes you go back and analyze every word he says. Why did he say it would be wonderful to have me in the band? Why did he always give me those weird, starry-eyed looks? Why did he look like he had been expecting me to say something other than goodbye? I stretched my legs out and decided to lay down. All of this thinking was too much.

The thing that I really couldn't wrap my head around was how I felt when I had told Rose that Ewan and I would never be dating. I hope it didn't come off this way, but when I said it, the words took on a kind of false sound. The sentence sounded flat, as if I were reading it from a script (not to make any more film analogies). I lie there, wondering what this meant. If saying those words felt so awful to me, what does that mean? Does it mean that subconsciously, I don't think that's true? Subconsciously, I want Ewan and I to start dating? Because I'm really not sure if I like the sound of that.

* * *

_Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match! Find me a find! Catch me a catch--yeah, I'm kind of watching Fiddler on the Roof as I edit this. But, hey! Let's talk about the story! Uh... so yeah, Desmond's confused. Ewan's grumpy. And Rose is grumpy-er. I know this chapter wasn't ALL that thrilling, but I needed the band to make up before I got to the next chapter of AWESOMENESS._

_And also, can you believe twenty chapters? I'm excited! See the problem with this story is, I know where I want the characters to be when it stops, but I don't know when I actually WANT it to stop. Well... we'll see what happens._

_Hey! Lost comes back next week! I can't wait to see Desmond's beautiful face again! Eek!_


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